We're Doing Something Right!

(Malaysian literature is) going through a period of growth at the moment, thanks not only to writers but also to those working in the background: organisers of monthly book readings in the city, poetry performances, and creative writing classes. Many of these people run these events for the love of it. There are more platforms now for a writer’s work to be seen, heard, read and, consequently, they have spurred more people to write, to create. ... I also feel that there’s a generation of younger people who no longer feel they must enter the traditional professions of their parents: doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers. Credit should also be given to these parents, who are strong and brave enough to allow their children the space and freedom to be writers, film-makers, playwrights, dancers.

Tan Twan Eng talks about Malaysia's developing writing community, his influences, Anwar Ibrahim, and much else in this interview with Paul Mozar of the Far Eastern Economic Review.

(Above the Serbian translation ...)

Postscript :

Another interview - this time from the WaterBridge Review (a journal of Pacific Rim literature) which gives more insight into the man behind the author.