Quality Quill

Picked up the new issue of MPH's magazine Quill a couple of days back. There's a generous helping of yours truly - writing about why writers must read (the piece started life as this blog post but grew rather longer) and a fun list of latest books with one word titles (which I found dangerous to write because it made me want to buy the books myself!) The art work that went with the article was pretty nice: how many book titles can you pick out below and can you name the authors? (The grumbling myopics among you can click to enlarge!)

I was also quite thrilled to read a review of this blog by Chai Mei Ling. She says about me:

..she shares her (very) frank views on everything books, reading and writing in a light, conversational tone with a sporadic twinge of wickedness and a dab of sarcasm.

Sarcastic? Moi?

Mei Ling also reviews two other excellent local blogs about books and writing: Eric Forbes' Good Books Guide and Inky Hands which gives a home to the work of young writers.

Now I've finished blowing my own trumpet, I have to point out that there's tons of other good stuff in this issue, including an extremely interesting interview with Culture, Arts and Heritage minister, Datuk Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim about the local book industry. Eric Forbes gives sterling advice about how to get published, and Philip Gan (aka Eternal Wanderer) writes about coffee table books.

Then there are several articles in Malay including an interview with writer Nisah Haji Haron. And I learned from Shaharom TM Sulaiman that the Malay word for what ought to ail us is:

Biblioholisme

Love it!

Congrats, Renee and team, for creating a book magazine that grows more entertaining with every issue - and not just because you are kind enough to include me in it!

Recognising Local Writers

Nisah Haron very kindly sent me a copy of this month's Dewan Sastera in which she has an article called Dilemma Penulis Fiksyen Inggeris Tempatan (The Dilemma of Local Writers of Fiction in English.)

It's a scholarly article which outlines some of the dilemmas faced by local fiction writers. And okay yes, I'm struggling to faham paragraph by paragraph am getting the gist of it. Be patient if I get things wrong!

Nisah interviewed a number of people by e-mail including yours truly (and honestly I was flattered to be asked):

Sharon Bakar, seorang editor bebas dan juga warganegara British yang telah meetap di Malaysia lebih daripada 20 tahun, menyebut tentang jumplah pembaca fisksyen Inggeris tempatan masih lagi secara relatifnya kecil. Ini ditambah pula dengan masalah menerbitkan karya fiksyen Ingerris di Malaysia. Kekurangan sokongan terhadap penulis dalam bentuk kursus penulisan, kemudahan, bengkel dan acara turut menyumbang kepada kurangnya jumlah penulis fiksyen Inggeris tempatan.

Might as well ask for the things you need! Support for writers, facilities, courses, workshops.

Dina Zaman says that there are few local publishers willing to publish fiction in English, so we need to add that to the wishlist.

Nisah goes on to talk about the local writers who have made a name for themselves overseas: Tash Aw and Rani Manicka in the U.K. and Shirley Lim and K.S. Maniam in the U.S..

The crux of the article is recognition. Writes Nisah:

Apakah senario ini seolah-olah mencadangkan kepada penulis tempatan supaya berhijrah untuk membolehkan karya mereka lebih mudah diterbitkan dan seterusnya mudah di pasarkan. Bukan sedikit pengiktirafan yang diperoleh penulis-penulis ini peringkat antarabangsa. Namun, mereka tidak mendapat pengiktirafan yang setaraf di peringkat kebangsaan.

Am I right in thinking that the last couple of lines says that winning international recognition doesn't mean that you will win recognition at home?

Our Mr.Raman says:

... penulis yang ingin diiktifa di peringkat antarabangsa harus menulis tentang pengalaman di Malaysia. Pengalaman unik inilah dicari-cari oleh masyarakat pembaca antarabangsa.

In other words if you want to sell big in the West, you need to write about Malaysia because that's what readers there want. Can we argue with that?

Nishah also points out the nice irony of the English novel competition sponsored by Utusan Publications only being announced in a Malay language newspaper (Mingguan Malaysia). But hey, you read about it here too, right?

Anyway, Nisah's article is well worth reading for anyone interested in the local lit scene. It certainly raises the sorts of questions that need to be discussed.