Some January Events for Your Diary

Here's are some not-to-be-missed January lit events to put in your diary.

How great that another venue for live literature has sprung up. Raja Ahmad has a great list of readers for Kata-Suara, to be held at his very beautiful gallery on Saturday 19th January. Do support! (More on Ted's blog.)

The monthly MPH Writer's Circle meeting takes place on 19th January too (11.00am - 12.30pm in the Booker Room.) I think these meetings are very worthwhile, particularly as you get to know so much about author's experiences of getting published and marketing their books. Sadly, they haven't been attended as well as they deserve to be. This month's guest is Jason Fong, author of Feng Shui in the City. So if you want to write a book on Feng-Shui (and I must confess I've toyed with the idea) or if you want to hear another author's "war-story" about how you move from initial concept to finished book, do come along.

If you like crime fiction, you might like to meet Singapore's answer to Agatha Christie! Shamini Flint (left) is launching her second detective novel, Criminal Minds at the La Bodega Lounge on Monday 21st Jalan Telawi 2 at 7.45. (More about this author another day.)

You are probably aware that MPH have a monthly book-discussion, and you can get a 20% discount on the chosen title.

This month focuses on Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain, and to make this an extra-special meeting - the author himself will be there to talk about the book and answer your questions. (Eh, how often you got chance to chat to a Booker-nominated author, especially of the home-grown variety?)

If you haven't read the book yet (and you should because 1) it's a great big passionate, exciting read 2) you will enjoy the Penang setting 3) Malaysia really boleh in this instance, so you can enjoy feeling proud), then you have nine more days to buy it and read it

(MPH as usual has lots on, which you can check out here.)

Readings@Seksan's is on Saturday 26th January, and I'll be putting up the line-up very soon. It will be a very special readings as we are celebrating our third birthday and need you help to blow out the candles! Tunku Halim will be among the readers, and he will also be appearing at MPH's Breakfast Club at the Bangsar Village 2 branch at 11 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (He will be appearing at several other events while he is in town, and has listed these on his blog.)

That same afternoon Indonesian authors Lakshmi Pamuntjak and Goenawan Mohamad are appearing at Silverfish at 5 p.m. (Come to Readings first and then skip over the road!) Goenawan will be launching On God and Other Things, the English translation of his book of aphorisms, Tentang Tuhan dan Hal-Hal yang Tak Selesai. This event is sponsored by the Malaysian International Literature Society (MILS).

You can also catch Lakshmi and Goenawan at a talk at the English Department, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty Universiti Malaya at 9 a.m. (I kid you not!) on Sunday 27th January. If you'd like to attend, contact Catalina Rembuyan or via Facebook. I plan to be there ... but can't guarantee to be awake.

Feel like a party? Project Open Mike Gig are inviting you to a night of mayhem on Sunday 27th January 7.30 till very late at The Dram Projects BG-6 Happy Mansions, Jalan 17/13, P.J.
This from their Facebook ad:

Because this is an OMG event, anyone who feels like whipping out a guitar should feel free. Poets are, however, advised to keep it to no more than 17 stanzas. And no free verse about curry leaves! Mostly, however, it's a party, which means Doritos, dancing and debauchery [in that order]. Bring a bottle or three!!!

Who can resist?

Phew! Have I forgotten anything? Do let me know in the comments and I'll append it.

Some Litfest Photos

Two poetic lovelies: Sharanya Manivannan with Indonesian poet Lakshmi Pamuntjak (right). I took this the first day of the festival when a whole gang of us descended on Delicious for lunch.

Courting controversy. I introduced one of Dina Zaman's sessions, and she read about from I Am Muslim about "born-again virgins".
Eva Kriseova sponsored by the Embassy of the Czech republic, reading outside Starbucks in Bangsar Village 2. She's a writer with a fascinating story to tell. She worked as a reporter during the Prague Spring in 1986. After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia her writings were banned. She lost her job and went underground. Later, she worked as an advisor to President Vaclav Havel.

Benjamin Zephaniah strutting his stuff at Marmalade. I sneaked a preview of his poetry at this session but enjoyed much more his great performance at Central Market last night. Plan to write more about that later.

Even though I had interviewed Canadian author Camilla Gibb a couple of days before, I was fascinated to hear even more about her writing.

I didn't manage to get to Tash Aw's workshops but met up with him at MPH Bangsar Village for his "meet the public session". Such a very nice guy. He told me that he was working hard on the second novel and trying hard to not to be distracted.

I introduced New Zealand poet/novelist Elizabeth Smither's session at Alexis. I enjoyed her well observed poems - small true moments. Was also stunned by just how prolific a writer this lady is - she has 14 volumes of poetry (soon to be 15), 4 novels, 3 (or was it four?) collections of short fiction, and other published works. All this produced around her full-time librarian's job! She says she writes 250 words of a novel everyday, and keeps a notebook on her to jot down ideas for poetry that occur to her throughout the day.

Puisi Poesy Posies and Posers

If you haven't dropped by our poetry blog recently why not take a click's trip over there?

I've just added (a little late, I'm sorry) a favourite poem of mine: Louis MacNeice's Prayer before Birth in which the horrors of the modern world are seen through the eyes of an unborn child.

Machinist adds a couple of intriguing anagram poems by Kevin McFadden based on OuLiPo principles. (I'm trying to get my head around OuLiPo about which more another time.)

Sharanya has found a haunting poem called When I Cut My Hair by Cherokee poet Rayna Green, and gives a fascinating insight into what happened in Malika Booker's workshop.

On a lighter note, Dreamer Idiot takes the woman's side and gives us a very enjoyable poem about Bloody Men by Wendy Cope:

Bloody men are like bloody buses -
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.

DI is, of course, a new man of astounding sensitivity.

And then there's a "prose poem" which I put up last time - The Love Motel by Indonesian poet Lakshmi Pamunjac - to open a debate about whether there really is such a creature (as a "prose poem" I mean: Lakshmi's very real!) Whether it's a poem or a story, never mind, the real issue at stake in this piece is - which is more important, sex or food?

Incidentally something has been bugging me ever since we started the blog. As you know, we take it in turns to choose a poem we love or that interests us and write about it. Well, over the past year I've noticed that the guys (Leon, DI and Machinist) tend to be much more interested in the technical aspects of the poem, the women (myself, Sharanya, Dina, Sham) in how we relate to it and whether it speaks to us emotionally. (Not that both aspects aren't vitally important when discussing a poem, but it's more a question of emphasis.)

I asked Malika when I interviewed her, about whether this reflects her own experiences and she says she thinks it is ... and also that men and women also seem to approach the writing of poetry somewhat differently! Are we two different species even where poetry is concerned?

Now then, would you like to contribute a post to the blog? You don't need to be "an expert", or be able to speak lingua poetica or have an SPM in advanced versification ... just have a poem you love and would like to share with the world.

Contact Dreamer Idiot or myself if you do.

(I nicked the very nice logo from someone else's blog and can't remember the address! Please let me know and I will credit you.)

Not Just Pretty Faces

Wah! Our Dina gets described as a "glamorous young writer" in this article about the rise of Asian literature in The Age, which talks about:

... a new breed of Asian writer is aiming to turn pages with writing inspired by distinctly Asian issues: such as the repression of women, the politics of the hijab, political dissidence and eastern mythology.

Here's our Dina* (left) with precocious Indonesian talent Vira Safitri (whose story has already been enviously (?) chronicled by Ted).

I wrote some time ago about how beautiful the most popular Indonesian female writers are, and it seems that Vira has the right credentials in that department too! As does of course Lakshmi Pamuntjak snapped here at her book launch.

*Since pea-brained-hormonally challenged gonks have the habit of stealing Dina's pictures from my blog and posting them on obscene websites, (it being apparently the only recourse that threatened masculinity can take when confronted with a free-spirited, open-minded individual like Dina) I give her the right to ask me to take this picture down. (But I hope she doesn't ... .) This incidentally was an issue that we discussed in a panel session on blogging at Ubud. (More on that later.)

Update

Dina said why can't I draw a moustache on her picture. Anything to oblige, my friend.

The Bangsar Baru Tatler

The social page of the Bibliobibuli blog recording the happenings of yesterday.

Met up with Dreamer Idiot (below) for a cup of tea at Bangsar Village. How strange to have a friend and share a blog (Puisi-Poesy) with someone you've never met in real life. We had tons of bookish and poetic things to talk about, and then I took him over to Silverfish where he acquired even more books (note the Kino bag in hand). It was a pity he could not stay for Lakshmi Pamuntjak's reading, but next time he is in in town we must organise something poetic and fun.

If Dreamer Idiot was shy-shy all you have to do is point a camera in Pang's direction (below) and he's posing. He wants you to appreciate the words on the back of his t-shirt.


Thai artist-activist Chumpon Apisuk brought along Kumjing:

The lady even has her own passport. Discover why here.


But the star of the show was of course Lakshmi (snapped later at Devi's Corner) who read from a couple of stories in The Diary of RS: Musings on Art which I enjoyed very much. I bought a copy of Ellipsis, her collection of poetry.

There was a q&a after the reading and the conversation strayed onto the fact that Indonesian writers have been feeling very isolated over the past 10-15 years, and are little recognised in the West because of the language barrier. Few writers write in English (Lakshmi and Richard Oh being among the exceptions) and translations are limited. It is surprisingly difficult to find copies of Indonesian books in Malaysia, even though the two countries share a common language.

The Poet and the Bubur Ayam

Indonesian author, Laksmi Pamuntjak, will be at Silverfish Books this Saturday to read from her poetry and short stories.

Lakshmi is an acclaimed journalist and food writer. Her book of poetry, Ellipsis, was chosen as one of the Books of the Year 2005 by The Herald, UK and her book of short fiction The Diary of RS: Musings on Art was published in April.

Sample her writing here ... and please do scroll down and read the little story about the lovers and the bubur ayam - it's a gem!

The event kicks off at 6.30p.m. at Silverfish Books, 67-1 Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru. Admission is free and all are welcome but please give Phek Chin/Vasantha a call at 03-22844837 to book a place.