Julia Desiree Merican


is a writer, editor, and artist

Julia Desiree Merican is a writer from Kuala Lumpur and an archivist of small scraps of human experience. She holds a Master of Studies in English (1900 - Present) from Oxford and a Writing MA from the Royal College of Art.Her words have appeared in various print and digital publications, and once, quite excitingly, on an unfurling scroll in a gallery. For more personal scrawls, she invites you to subscribe to her occasional newsletter, Glimmers and Inklings.Currently, Julia lives in London and is finding writing in the third person quite a lot of fun. She thinks often about liminal or ruined spaces, the ancillary prettiness of an em dash, how heritage is made and broken, and the art of living so gently you barely make a sound.If you're interested in commissioning her writing, you can reach her at [email protected].

forthcoming


Plain Things for Lustrous
Antigone Editions, 2026


The Inconsolable Secrets
MA BIBLIOTHÈQUE, 2026

criticismat the core of it OXFORD REVIEW OF BOOKS, 2021
dressing up for noodles MULA ZINE, 2022
the directness of apples LINSEED JOURNAL, 2022
monitoring the belt and road initiative THE EDGE, 2022
diasporic dysphoria WASAFIRI, 2023
the power of critical sensemaking in shaping futures SUPERFLUX, 2024
serious play SUPERFLUX, 2025
what's in your blue razz lemonade? SUPERFLUX, 2025


exhibition texts
fragmented bodies: the personal and the public STPI GALLERY, 2019
hidden lines FRANCIS GALLERY, 2021


fictions
meta morphosis SINE THETA, 2020
unlucky AESTHETICA, 2020
proximity OBSCURAS, 2024


impressions
gallery in a state of undress CHA JOURNAL, 2023
allom! amatai! allom! C MAGAZINE, 2023
only lemons: will calver’s lovely, ordinary, perishable things TOLKA, 2024
playing the fool ARE WE THERE YET?, 2024
random access memory MKH, 2025
mariana cordoba's asemic writing MKH, 2025
feast with the beasts: a VR allegory MKH, 2025
yula kim's avian archipelagos MKH, 2025
qloud collective's poems of creation MKH, 2025
vidushi gupta and the art of paying attention MKH, 2025
the end of the good story REVIEW31, 2025
a seat at the table MKH, 2026
the limitless in-between MKH, 2026


interviews
how i settle myself OXFORD REVIEW OF BOOKS, 2021
a conversational art with larissa pham OXFORD REVIEW OF BOOKS, 2021
an interview with amina cain TOLKA, 2024
tea and frequency PROCESS MAGAZINE, 2024


personal essays
being foreign, abroad and at home MUSOTREES, 2020
the olive branch and the poetics of reconciliation LINSEED JOURNAL, 2024
minding the gaps: a sonic essay ART ON THE UNDERGROUND, 2024
protecting the flame MULA ZINE, 2024


poetry
kintsugi OUTHOUSE MAGAZINE, 2025


travelogues
the cerebral and the sensual CEREAL, 2020
let the land be NEW MANDALA, 2022
a silent dwelling CEREAL, 2022
signs of the times SEARCH MAGAZINE, 2023

editorial work
cereal magazine COPYEDITOR (2020 - 2021)
the oxford review of books EDITOR (2020 - 2021)
search magazine: kitsch EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (2024)
the dodo newspaper CO-EDITOR (2023 - 2024)
obscuras EDITOR (2024)

scroll work

gift exchange BLANK CANVAS GALLERY, 2022 (sold)