Sharon and the Big Red Dinosaur

Here's me and a big red dinosaur I met at the KL International Bookfair on Sunday. I am the one on the right, and the photo was taken by blogger extraordinaire Eyeris whom I bumped into as I was leaving the event.

He must think I am totally without conversation because we went for noodles after that and I was too shattered to have much to say. (Eyeris, I almost slumped face down into my Singapore mee hoon soup and started snoring.) Just getting to Putra World Trade centre by the LRT and dodging another afternoon deluge and then navigating the huge expanse of book displays flooded with families out for the afternoon was enough to do me in.

I didn't see many of the book displays. I went to talk to my friend Elke aka Ms Payless Books (at booths 8064-8067 if you have trouble finding it). Was pretty restrained and only bought one book : The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy.

The KataSuara reading was quite fun, not least because of the musicians Raja Ahmad had co-opted to provide digestive space between the words. Usratika started the event off. Dewangga Sakti played Malay roots music on traditional instruments with a contemporary twist. Tan Sei Hon is a talented singer-songwriter who sounds (I think) like Cat Stevens in the early days.

I read first. Wasn't sure how much anyone was interested or was prepared to listen to something in English, as a lot of the "audience" had really come to sit down for a while and rest. My piece is a bit from my "novel in progress" (which sshhh has not moved any further since I dumped it in the drawer ... though every time I take it out I keep hoping that divine intervention has sorted out the plot holes for me. ) But I like the part I read, and might rescue it for a short story.

The others read poetry in Malay. Laureate A. Samad Said read from his new collection 68 Soneta Pohon Gingko which he wrote during a stay in Korea. His self-published book, which I bought afterwards, is beautifully produced and contains some of his paintings. (He actually has a booth at the Bookfair and a number of beautiful books on sale.)

I met lots of friends including (beside the other readers) Vovin, Pak Adib, Ted and Lina and made some new ones. Also met up with the daughter of the late Usman Awang, another Malaysian laureate, and came away with a couple of his books. (I've more to blog here another day.)

I was much impressed that after I had pointed out a certain grammar error on the KLIBF posters, someone had painstakingly corrected - well most of them, at least! (A little victory for the Grammar Gestapo?)


Eyeris has a great post about the Bookfair, so please go visit him after this! And Ted documents the Katasuara event much much better than I could have.

Kata-Suara's Next Outing

Ted wants you know about this:

So if you want a little spoken word on a Saturday afternoon, head over to Raja Ahamad's gallery on 15th.

Further details and directions here.

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.

Raja Ahmad's Home for Art

Went along to the opening of Raja Ahmad Aminullah's gallery, RA Fine Arts, yesterday. It's in a bungalow house tucked away in Jalan Aman just behind City Square, on Jalan Tun Razak. Some literary types were there among the art lovers. Had a long chat with Thor Kah Hoong and Ted Mahsun. I bumped into one of my ex-MCKK students, Latt Shariman, whom I hadn't seen for more than twenty years ... and of course in my usual blur way didn't recognise him. Also met a couple of old school friends of Abu's and we chatted about how (even if a bit belatedly) we might finally get the Burgess plaque project off the ground.

Gave poet Rahmat Harun the frangipani treatment.

Raja Ahmad with the Prince Regent of PerakRaja Nazrin Shah and Tuanku Zara Salim who were the guests of honour, and behind them (in the orange shirt) speaker for parliament Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib

I was introduced to the prince and had a nice chat about my days in Kuala Kangsar.

I saw the great man of Malaysian literature A. Samad Said sitting alone and plucked up courage to say hello. No sooner had I sat down next to him than he said "Are you Sharon Bakar the blogger?" and called over his wife to meet me! Really, I was laughing!

The gallery has some excellent art and is open by appointment, call 03-21617431.

Pak Samad's Land

I am much fascinated to learn that author laureate A. Saman Said is also a talented artist and more fascinated still to learn how he uses his sketches as part of his preparation for writing.

E.N. de Silva writes in Starmag today:

For Pak Samad, as he’s widely known, the manuscripts are experimental overtures that are parallel and almost second nature to his work.

“When I write, describe a place, create a mood, drawing helps to extends the possibilities of imagination,” said the 72-year-old in a telephone interview before the launch of Daerah Samad. “I can’t do without those scribbles; they form the heartbeat to my writings.”

The images illuminate the words in compelling ways. For instance, one of his manuscripts appears to detail the thoughts of a person witnessing the marriage of his or her youngest daughter. To this raw and personal rumination, which was initially crossed out and then rewritten, Pak Samad added a swirl of jagged and cursive lines that seem to illustrate internalised and torn emotions.

The author/artist most often uses serviettes in cafes as his canvas, preferring those in Dome, Coffee Bean and Starbucks because of their better quality! He says he has a collection of over a thousand of them and has kept the ones which most informed his work:

The array of serviettes, which run through the years, deals with a variety of subjects, ranging from whimsical self-portraits and elaborately penned prose framed around calligraphic blobs and swirls to detailed sketches of those symbols of modernity, a mobile phone, a bottled drink and a wristwatch.

But one of the more compelling sketches is the signature piece of the exhibition, depicting two elegant, willow-like trees shooting out of some shrubs.

Examples of more formal sketches. The words in the sketch on the extreme left tell the thoughts of a father witnessing the marriage of his child while the jagged lines surrounding the words graphically illustrate the strong emotions present.
A discoloured stain, perhaps of coffee, lingers at the side of the red- and black-inked sketch, which, to me, somewhat emphasises how Pak Samad’s creative flights of fancy had to be made concrete on mundane, every day objects like coffee-stained serviettes.

“This particular sketch was about growth, regeneration,” says Pak Samad.

“I can’t quite remember when I did this sketch but I do remember the mood, the feeling and the intention – and that’s all that is important to me.”

The exhibition Daerah Samad: 100 Sketches by A. Samad Said runs until July 15 at Galeri Petronas.

Raja Ahmad Aminullah delivered the opening address at the opening of the exhibition and you can read it (in Malay) on the Kakiseni website.

Bounteous Book Bargains

Went along to the Pay Less Warehouse Sale and took along a young guy called Nicholas who writes very well and has just finished his A levels in Singapore. I don't think he expected the sale to be so big or for there to be so many must read books going so cheaply. Yes, it is a very good sale - just have the others have been.

But maybe because I've been to so many sales lately and my shelves are groaning under the weight of unread books, I didn't jump into the fray with such gleeful abandon. Was very picky about my choices. (Not so Nicholas who filled a huge carton.)

Warehouse sales are a good place to socialise. Here's poet and artist Rahmat Harun.

And here's another friend and poet, Raja Ahmad. We went for a drink and chat with them at the A&W afterwards.

I'm beginning to realise that there is a breed of folks you can call Kaki Warehouse Sale. Here's Justin, Margaret and Joel with boxes and boxes of books. I got talking to Justin and Margaret at the last Pay Less Sale, and learned how they are building a library ...

... and they're so systematic about it. Justin has the list of books he wants to find with many of the books crossed off!

I also bumped into Tina whom I'd also met at the last sale and I was adding enthuistically to her pile! And Yvonne Lee. And Simran, who has just joined our book club. And Peter who works in pay Less in One Utama, but couldn't resist coming to look for books on his day off! (He used to work for Tower records and we used to talk classical music whenever I went in there.)

I came home with this pile of books for just RM36. Not a big pile, but good stuff to keep me happy.


So ... what did you buy?

Hearing Voices

Raja Ahmad Aminullah called me up to tell me about this:

Suarasuara Author Appearance

In conjunction with the writer’s month, rumahpenerbitan Suarasuara will have a meet-the-authors session at MPH MidValley:

Venue : MPH – MidValley Megamall, Courtyard.
Date : Sunday, August 13th
Time : 12 noon – 2 pm

Meet authors Rahmat Harun, Amirul Fakir, Raja Ahmad Aminullah, Dr Zakaria Ali (who was awarded the S.E.A. Write Award in 2003) and other Suarasuara writers.

We'll see you there!

It should be a very interesting afternoon.

You might also like to visit the Suarasuara blog which has been made beautiful and brought up to date by Ted.

Now what exactly is Writers' Month and how come I didn't know about it? (Reading Month, Writers' Month ... are these state secrets?)

The Spoils!

My loot from the Pay Less Warehouse sale yesterday. Went with Sham and we had such fun! I hadn't expected there to be so many desirable books - and for next to nothing.

There was such a carnival atmosphere. Everyone shovelling books into huge cardboard cartons with big smiles on their faces. Me piling book after book into Sham's box: "You must read this. And this. And this. And this." And then doing the same thing to all the other people standing around looking at the fiction. Never mind that we hadn't been formally introduced.

Met Raja Ahmad Aminullah, my poet/publisher friend. Thor Kar Hoong of Skoob Books was there with arms full. A very nice young man came up to ask me "Are you Sharon?" Turns out he's one of the silent readers of this blog and enjoys the book recommenations.

I found hardback copies of some of the books I have in tatty paperback and filled in gaps in my library with books by Philip Roth, Barabara Kingsolver, Alice Walker, Carol Shields, Ann Patchett and others. 16 lovely books for RM49!!

Brown Sugar and Special Branch

Went along to the readings at Jalan Tempinis 1 yesterday afternoon. People write, must support, what. Though was not in the mood to sit and listen because was in a big strop with my other half who started World War Three because we were out of brown sugar (white doesn't count apparently).

A bit disappointed about changes to the advertised programme, and the crowd that showed up ... didn't exactly amount to a crowd despite bernice's exhortation to "datang beramai-ramai" .... there were about 15 people, and three of them Raja Ahmad's kids.

Raja Ahmad read first. I have a running joke with him because I bump into him all the time, at every reading and literary event. "You still following me around?" I say "We just can't go on meeting like this." But it's great to see a writer who supports other writers to this extent.

I was glad that Raja Ahmad told me that he is a poet, that first time we met at a Darling Muse, because he looks the part with his long hair and thoughtful expression.



He read several of his poems including one called membaca buku di kinokuniya - a nice piece of free advertising for Kino! I like the way the poem ends:

if everybody is silent
what kind of society
is this

Quite.

I bought his collection of poetry Manyarung Jiwa, a beautifully produced book of uncluttered layout and quality paper. I'm so glad that it is a bi-lingual edition so that I am not going to miss anything.

Raja Ahmad had his daughter read an extract from his work in progress, a novel written in English.

Then some of the kutu-kutu guys read. RuhayatX gave us Anak Kepala Anjing; Natasha "champion blogger of the Neohikayat website" read Dhoji's Tsunami; Irman read a piece by Danny Lim; Nizam Zakaria read his Penunggu Malam. Then Abror Rivai, a young poet who has been writing for about a year read a few poems, and the very encouraging Bernice insisted on reading a few more herself.

I can't give you any stunning critical insights into the texts ... I really have to get my brain into gear to begin reading again in Malay ... And I'm a much better listener when my head is not full of visions of brown sugar and deeply-disappointed-in-me husband.

Nizam wins my prize for the most sartorially elegant performer of the day. His t-shirt had a picture of fingers held up in a victory sign (was it? or?) outlined in flashing bands of neon. It was not magic as some had thought, Nizam showed me the battery pack. (Haven't seen any piggy t-shirts for a while, which seemed to be de rigeur garb for those who wanted to project an image of being both creatif and alternatif in the Darling Muse days.)

Listened into a conversation between some of the Wilayah Kutu-kutu, debating whether or not there had been Special Branch guys at the launch at Silverfish and if there had been quite what it implied. Whilst not exactly the Stasi, the thought of Special Branch opening a file on their subversives strikes a certain amount of terror particularly as ther ISA means that dissenting voices can be disappeared for quite a while.

Perhaps it's all paranoia? Those Special Branch guys don't actually need to show up in a physical sense to show up in your psyche.

Perhaps too, there's a vicarious thrill to be gained from courting the possibility?

Oh yes, and the other big news of the day was that Zedeck has had a haircut. And now you can actually see that he has eyes.