Daphne Goes to the Sales

What a time it’s been of late for book lovers in the Klang Valley! We’ve had huge warehouse sales by book wholesaler Crescent; the cheaper books people, Pay Less Books; and Big Bad Wolf Books.

The last was particularly memorable for me: I picked up more than 100 books for about RM600 – this means I paid, on average, RM6.50 a book and this includes hardback picture books (retail price at least RM60) and Nigella Lawson’s best-selling cookbook Nigella Express (also in hardcover)! In fact, prices at the sale ranged from RM5 to RM20. It was a heaven-sent event for book-buyers who were seen leaving with bulging canvas bags and loaded cardboard boxes during the five days of the sale.

Daphne Lee reports on the book warehouse sale phenomena in the Klang Valley and asks how these companies do it.

As she says it's great for the readers (and in a country where decent libraries are few and far between, we feel we deserve something) ... but presumably it's presumably not good at all for the bookshops.

By the way, Saras was showing me some of the great books she found for RM5 each at Carrefour (and apparently the sale is at all branches).

Pay Less warehouse sales will be held as follows :

10 - 12 JULY 2009 : YMCA KL

31 JULY - 1 AUGUST 2009 : 3K INN

21 - 23 AUGUST 2009 : MILLENNIUM SQUARE

11 - 13 SEPTEMBER 2009 : YMCA KL

9 - 11 OCTOBER 2009 : 3K INN

29 OCTOBER - 1 NOVEMBER 2009 : MILLENNIUM SQUARE

20 - 22 NOVEMBER 2009 : YMCA KL

11 - 13 DECEMBER 2009 : 3K INN

Mapping Tash

The bad times in writing are numerous and range from being merely bad to truly catastrophic. Any writer will tell you that the daily grind of writing is in itself a challenge, but anyone engaged in a serious project will experience great lows during which one doubts the very validity of one’s existence as a writer – sometimes it feels as if one can’t even write a single sentence.

The job of a writer is largely concerned with being able to withstand these dips in morale. Sometimes they can last months, during which the whole of your life seems futile. But writing is cyclical and if you can hang on long enough and keep working through these dips the good times do come back. Eventually.

Comforting words from Tash Aw who talks about his new novel, his creativity, and how the press got it wrong about the money is interviewed by Soon Heng Lim in today's Star. I especially like the question about whether serious fiction/literature is scripture for a secular world?

Lim also reviews the novel here.

Glad I am to see that this time round there's plenty of publicity for an author of whom we are rightly proud.

Saving Salt

Just as Wena Poon celebrates the publication of her two collections of short stories in the UK with Salt Publishing, comes the announcement that the indie enterprise is in trouble. As director Chris Hamilton-Emery explains :

As many of you will know, Jen and I have been struggling to keep Salt moving since June last year when the economic downturn began to affect our press. Our three year funding ends this year: we've £4,000 due from Arts Council England in a final payment, but cannot apply through Grants for the Arts for further funding for Salt's operations. Spring sales were down nearly 80% on the previous year, and despite April's much improved trading, the past twelve months has left us with a budget deficit of over £55,000. It's proving to be a very big hole and we're having to take some drastic measures to save our business.

But there is a way that readers can help :

Please buy just one book, right now. We don't mind from where, you can buy it from us or from Amazon, your local shop or megastore, online or offline. If you buy just one book now, you'll help to save Salt. Timing is absolutely everything here. We need cash now to stay afloat. If you love literature, help keep it alive. All it takes is just one book sale. Go to our online store and help us keep going.

Salt, which publishes over 80 books a year (including poetry, short stories, literary criticism, text books and essays by authors from around the world) and as The Guardian points out :

Since its establishment in 1999, Salt has pushed breakthrough talent: it publishes the largest number of debuts of any British press.

To drive home their point about the need for public support in these difficult times, they have made this video (spoofing a World Wide Fund for Nature video) to push their message home :

Among Burgess' Books

Okay, time for another collection of books in Manchester ...

I went along with Rob and Elaine to the hq of the International Anthony Burgess Association because we needed to have a meeting to hammer out the details for the forthcoming conference in KL. (Details here.)

The house, 10 Tatton Grove, was never one of Burgess' own homes, but the building houses many of his possessions. (A new centre is to be opened in Manchester which will house much more.)

But what fun to poke around among Burgess' eclectic collection of books: some of them first editions of his own works, many of them books for review for various publications, a few stolen from public libraries. Open one and a review card from The New York Times falls out.

Then there are the typewriters he worked on, the family photos from his mantel piece, his musical instruments, his ornaments, his record collection, letters ...

For me, now a through and through "Burgessian" it was magic ...

Old Books in Manchester

One of the pleasures of my recent trip back to UK was meeting up with Rob Spence and his wife Elaine Ellery. Some of you will remember that Rob is a friend I met through this blog when he responded to a post I put up on Anthony Burgess. Rob subsequently came out to give a lecture on Burgess at Universiti Malaya, and a talk to Malay College Old Boys. It was also his idea to bring the International Anthony Burgess' Societies Sympozium here in July. (More about this later.) Well, I hadn't been up to Manchester in over two decades and was pleasantly surprised by the changes to the city centre. Victorian buildings have shed their grime and stand proudly next to gleaming modern structures, the shopping is pretty tempting, an efficient tram service will replace traffic clogged roads in the city centre, and it's a pretty happening place with plenty going on on the art's scene. Best of all, it takes less than two hours now from London via the super efficient Virgin trains. (Oh and I also hear they have a fairly good football club.) Ah, but the rain, it raineth every day ... so if you visit take a brolly. And then there are the libraries. Rob took me to the Portico Library for lunch since he is a member. It was opened in 1806, and most of the books on the shelves, which members are free to read, date from the (19th. (Rob did though point out some contemporary fiction, and of course the library also awards an annual literary prize and hosts other events.) Just look at these books in the section titled Polite Literature (presumably fiction that wouldn't scare the delicate young ladies!) Here's the ceiling ... This is Rob's hang-out place when he is in the city, and there is space for members to sit and read and work, and hsve a light meal. (The bean soup was so good, and the lady who made it had grown the beans in her own garden.) If I lived in Manchester this would be my second home But this isn't the only fascinating old library in Manchester. After lunch we visted a vertiable cathedral of books - the John Rylands Library which was founded by Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her husband, and built in the late (19th in the gothic style. There were a couple of excellent exhibitions, including one on the art of the sonnet. We chatted to one guy who was involved with restoring the antiquarian books. And finally, we made a quick detour into the Manchester Central library - where Rob bought me one of the coolest bookbags ever as a gift! Jealous? : There's another collection of books in Manchester left to talk about, but I'll post on that later. (More of my England trip photos on Facebook.)

Tash in KL

(Click up to full size.)

Here's a list of Tash Aw's events in KL this time round, and you can see just how packed his schedule is. Hope you manage to catch up with him, to hear about the novel and get your copy signed for posterity.

More on the Silverfish event here.

The evening event at No Black Tie is a Ceritaku@readings organised by Bernice, and features Tash in the company of other local writers. More info on this coming up soon.

Postscript :

Even if you can't catch Tash live, you can hear him on the radio :

5 June 2009, Fri
9.00am : NTV7 The Breakfast Show

8 June 2009, Mon
7.25am : LiteFM 105.7

9 June 2009, Tues
11.00am : TraxxFM 90.3
2.00pm : BFM 89.9

Tash's London Launch

I remember a line in Kam Raslan's Memoirs of an Old Boy along the lines of "When London was part of the Malaysian Empire". Well Thurs 7th of May sure felt like that for me. I went along to Tash Aw's London launch for Map of The Invisible World at Asia House. There was a real crush of people to hear him talk to the debonair Karim Raslan who had flown in from KL specially for the event. Kak Teh has more of the story, some pics, and all about our gastronomic adventures and vigourous testing of the six degrees of separation law afterwards, and it was great too to meet up with another Malaysian book-loving friend and blogger Fiona Wan who also writes about our evening here. Tash will be in KL on 7th June and there are a whole lot of activities scheduled for him which I will tell you about later.

Munro Wins International Booker

Canadian short story writer Alice Munro has been awarded the Man Booker International Prize. The prize is awarded every two years to a living author for a body of work that has contributed to an achievement in fiction on the world stage, and is worth $60,000.

The judges said of her work:

Alice Munro is mostly known as a short story writer and yet she brings as much depth, wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels. To read Alice Munro is to learn something every time that you never thought of before.

Art and Culture.com says of her work :

Imagine the short story as poetry. And imagine that Alice Munro isn't merely a writer -- she is a literary alchemist, stirring, distilling, testing, and violating the language and conventions of the short story with breathtaking results.

More at The Guardian.

Munro's most recent collection of stories is The View from Castle Rock.

Henry James of Lamb House

A photo of Lamb House in Rye, Sussex, where Henry James lived 1898-1916 which I visited while staying with my friends Jean and Barry Floyd. James wrote his three late novels here : The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903), and The Golden Bowl (1904). He wrote in a small house in the garden which was unfortunately destroyed by a German bomb (the planes unloading on their way back home during the blitz). Visitors to the house included Joseph Conrad, H.G. Wells and Ford Maddox Ford, and it later became home to two other famous authors E.F. Benson (author of the Mapp and Lucia novels set in Rye) and Rummer Godden. The property is now owned by the National Trust and many of James' personal possessions were on display including some fascinating letters. I hope at least a smigeon of James' genius was sticking to the wall and reattached itself to me ... Saw another of Rye's famous writers, though just in passing, Freddie Lees (whose trilogy is to be publsihed soon by Monsoon Books in Singapore) was just getting off the train from London as I was about to get onto it to go back.

Inspector Singh in Tescos

I'm putting up some of the more literary pictures from my U.K. trip. Shamini Flint asked me to keep an eye out for her novel in Tescos and elsewhere. Here it is on special offer in the harrow branch of Tescos, and at number 7 in their hit parade. (I think the garland of dishwashing brushes is a nice touch - shows just how accessible books are to shoppers.)

Sadly the copy I bought had pages wrongly numbered. Page 42 faced page 213. So I wasn't very far in and had to return it. But I couldn't get a replacement copy because they had sold out. Good sign.

I also saw it in the local Waterstones where the copies were all just fine. Other friends have reported sightings across the UK.

Anugerah Pilihan Pembaca 2009

Popular Bookstores is linking up with Berita Harian again this year to present the Anugerah Pilihan Pembaca 2009 for books written in Malay. The shortlisted titles (based on instore sales) are listed below. Fiction :

Aisya Sofea - Selagi Ada Dua Anis Ayuni - Seribu Kali Sayang Fauziah Ashari - Rindu Cintaku Damya Hanna - Ternyata Cinta Ramlee Awang Murshid - Hijab Sang Pencinta Siti Rosmizah - Andai Itu Takdirnya Norhayati Berahim - Kembalikan Cintaku Aleya Aneesa - Segalanya Untukmu Mimie Affnie - Kalau ada Jodoh Zaid Akhtar - Salju Sakinah

Non-fiction :

Dr. H.M. Tuah Iskandar - Fikir-Fikiran Sheik Mustapha - Menggapi Bintang Prof Mohd Kamil Ibrahim - Travelog Haji : Mengubah Sempadan Iman Dr Tenku Asmadi - Teknik Memotivasi Anak Cara Positif Dato Ustazah Nor Bahyah Mahmood - Hadiah untuk Muslimah Dr H.M. Tuah Iskandar - Membina Cinta Sayang Dr mohd Zainal Abidin - Minda Muslim Super Dr Modh Fadhilah Kasmah - Langkah Bijak Usahawan Terbilang Azahar Abdul Rahman - Rahsia Buat Duit Dengan Ebay

Alaf 21 is the publisher of five of the fiction titles and two of the non-fiction titles on this list and apparently is now publishing novels in English! The fiction titles all look like romance novels. Sheik Mustapha's book is of course the Malay version of Reaching for the Stars which was on the English book list. The other books on the non-fiction list include self-help titles (including ones on how to make money on Ebay, building a loving relationship, and motivating your kids in a positive way) and books on Islam. The book about Amedinajad calls him "the new lion of the Muslim world". The poll will appear in copies of the newspaper in June I believe, so you can vote for your favourites. Your thoughts about this list and any of the titles greatly welcomed.

Longlist for the Poppies 2009

Popular Bookstores are running their Reader's Choice (for books in English) and Anugerah Pilihan Pembaca (for books in Malay) awards again this year. Kimmy of Popular was kind enough to send me a copy of the lists of nominees (based, I believe on sales instore) so I guess I have the scoop before the newspapers!

I will blog the Readers Choice award first, and here's the list which I have subdivided into categories, although there is just one overall prize. (Wouldn't it be nice to have more, so that we could celebrate different categories?) *

Fiction (Novels/Novellas) :

Preeta Samarasan - Evening is the Whole Day
Tunku Halim - Juriah's Song
Brian Gomez - Devil's Place
Tan Twan Eng - The Gift of Rain
Kuan Guat Choo - Mouse Clutching Winter Melon
Khoo Kheng-Hor - Nanyang : The Lure of Southern China to Lands of Opportunity and Danger

Fiction (Short Stories) :

Wena Poon - Lions in Winter
Robert Raymer - Lovers and Strangers Revisited

Matthew Thomas - Tales from the Court and other Stories

Non-Fiction :

Yvonne Lee - Vanity Drive: The Vagaries of Women's Vanity
Sheik Mustapha Shukor Al-Masrie - Reach for the Stars
Adeline Loh - Peeing in the Bush
Adibah Amin - Glimpses : Cameos of Malaysian Lives
Paddy Bowie - Datuk Teh Hong Pow : Banking Thoroughbred
Kee Thuan Chye : March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up
Tun Mahathir & Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad - Dr. Mahathir's Letters to World Leaders
Rustam A. Sani - Failed Nation? Concerns of a Malaysian Nationalist
Amir Muhammad - New Malaysian Essays 1
Awang Goneng - Growing Up in Terengganu

In case you're wondering, this year, unlike last, overseas published Malaysian authors have been included provided that their books were in mass market paperback during the qualifying period. Thus Chiew-Siah Tei's Little Hut of Leaping Fishes is expected to be on next year's list. Shih-Li Kow's collection of short stories, Ripples, wasn't published in time to qualify for this year's list but should make it for next.

It's a shame isn't it there is only one prize, with so much of interest on the list and so much diversity!

We have authors who have achieved acclaim for their work overseas and who have each been nominated for one the world's most prestigious literary prizes (Tan Twan Eng - Booker, Preeta Samarasan - Orange).

We have one Singaporean author (Wena Poon) eligible because she was published in Malaysia.

We have last year's winner Adibah Amin, coming back for another bite of the cherry.

We have one former prime minister.

We have two authors who have passed away since their books were written - Rustam A. Sani and Sheik Mustapha Shukor Al-Masrie who wrote about his brother Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha, Malaysia's first "astronaut" and died just one day before his brother landed from his voyage to the international space station.

Voting will be once again via the Star's Reads Monthly Supplement (though I'm not sure when that will be). The bookstore is organising promotions of the books and from June onwards, customers that visit POPULAR outlets will get 20% discount when they buy any of the nominated books. The winner will be announced at Bookfest @ Malaysia 2009.

Yes, it is a popularity contest and yes, in that sense it cannot be considered a serious literary award.

But it does shine the spotlight on local authors and create some conversation about their books, which cannot be at all a bad thing.

Congrats to all the listed authors and their publishers.

Postscript :

Sorry for misleading info. There are separate prizes for fiction and non-fiction, and three prizes in each category - which means 6 winners. Whee!!

Postscript 2 :

The question of whether Khoo Kheng-Hor's book is fiction or non-fiction comes up in the comments to this post. Shirley Ng of MPH forwarded me an interesting note about this from Khoo herself who says :

... my case stories from China were based on what my aunts told me about my grand-father ... If you want to categorize it under non-fiction then it is not entirely true. If it is fiction then it is not entirely true too. So what shall we call it?

I didn't notice on the initial list but Yvonne Lee's Vanity Drive has been categorised as fiction. Hmmm ... creative non-fiction okay, but ....

SIS Goes for Judicial Review

Readers of this blog will remember that last July Sisters In Islam (SIS) had one of their books Muslim Women and the Challenges of Islamic Extremism banned by the Home Ministry last year on the sole ground that it was “prejudicial to public order” under Section 7 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. (And if not, you can refresh your memory here.)

Now SIS has applied for leave for a judicial review and lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar has declared the case ultra vires since the book was no threat to public order and had been in circulation for almost two years prior to the ban. Malik said the ban was ultra vires since the book was no threat to public order and had been in circulation for almost two years prior to the ban :

As such it is contrary to the applicant’s rights under Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution to freedom of expression.

Really hoping for SIS' victory here as this is a case I think with much broader implications.

Book City Project to Go Ahead

This from Bernama :

The Book City, which the government plans to set up by end of this year, will provide an avenue for publishers and writers to expand the scope and quality of their work, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

He said that the project, coordinated by the Education Ministry, would also be an avenue for the country's literary fans to enjoy quality books and spur the country's book industry to greater heights.

"We already have a building in Kuala Lumpur which will be turned into a Teachers' Museum and Book City. We will start the project by end of this year at the cost of RM20 million ..."

He said interested parties could rent a space to display their publications at the Book City.

Muhyiddin who is Education Minister, also said that the ministry was carrying out studies to improve literature curriculum in school.

"We are looking into the types of books to be used and for which level. Literature is taught in secondary school and at university level, so we want to coordinate the curriculum so that there will be continuity," he said.

To a question, Muhyiddin said the government normally would not block the entry of literary works from abroad so long as they did not create problems for the readers.

The Book City project was proposed back in 2006, and I had several questions and reservations back then. (And I have to point out, splitting semantic hairs, that a single building is hardly a "city" ...) But I do hope that something good comes of this ...

I am also glad that studies are being carried out on the study of literature in schools. Let's hope for some texts the students can really enjoy and plenty of support for teachers. But I'm not too clear what the Muhyiddin means by saying the Ministry plans to coordinate literature studies in schools with those at the universities :

... to ensure the teaching of literature in schools remains relevant to the aspiration to build a nation that is not only progressive, but united and peaceful ...

Can, and even should, literature be looked at in these terms?

It's good that a journalist asked about the censorship of foreign books (yes, keep up the pressure!) but what exactly does "as long as they did not create a problem for readers" actually mean? Vague vague vague!!

The Writer's Journey

If you're in Singapore, you might like to pop along to the Earshot Cafe at the Art House tomorrow, Friday 22nd May at 7 p.m.. I'm going to be in conversation with Wena Poon, talking about her first collection of stories Lions in Winter, which is also going to be published by Salt Publishing in the UK (hurray!!).

Wena has now completed a second collection The Proper Care of Foxes. We'll also be talking about writing and publishing in Malaysia and Singapore, and the problems of getting international distribution, and I'm sure, putting the world to rights (writes?) in general.

The event is presented by the Singapore Book Club and is part of the Singapore Writers' Festival. The talk is free but advanced registration is required. Email info@bookcouncil.sg with your full name and contact details.

May 13, Revisited

While I was away, that hugely significant anniversary - the fourtieth of May 13th, 1969 - came around. I liked author Preeta Samarasan's response (which she posted on Facebook) so much that I repost it here, with her permission.

I meant to write this note yesterday, on the actual anniversary, but. But.

I'll repost the link to The Nut Graph's brief commemorative piece here, because it's the only mention of May 13th I've seen on Facebook so far.

I didn't live through May 13th 1969; my parents and one of my siblings did. It's not so distant that the country is close to running out of survivors who remember it, and yet I think the question of what it has come to signify to my generation (and younger generations) is the more interesting one. Because, let's face it, in the grand scheme of things -- and oh how Grand that Scheme can be -- May 13th was no Rwanda, no Sri Lanka, no Palestine. Even the most liberal estimates put the total dead at about 2000. Of course I'm not belittling any of those lives lost, or the terrors of those few weeks; when you lose someone you love it doesn't matter if they were one of 2000 or one of six million. But what I *am* trying to say is that for most of us, the true impact of May 13th lies in the ways its memory has been preserved (or not), and not in the actual event itself. Which are, as I see it:

1) As a threat: If we don't toe the line, accept certain inequalities, and shut up about Sensitive Issues, it could "happen" again (always the omission of agency, as though these unfortunate things just stir themselves up, like bad weather);

2) As an unpleasant episode that has been gracefully laid to rest: Thank goodness we've moved on, look what perfect racial harmony we live in now, all of us getting along so nicely; surely we don't have to dwell on that terrible aberration.

These are the official, sanctioned ways to remember May 13th, but resistance to them isn't as common or obvious as one might expect. In Edinburgh last year, I was interviewed by a journalist who demanded to know why I'd written a novel "set in the past as usual." Why this obsession with the past, she kept asking, why not draw inspiration from my present life? I started to explain myself to her: I said I chose to include that chapter about May 13th because so few people discuss it meaningfully; because there are only these prescribed ways to talk about it; because, as a nation, we've never really digested it.

But she cut me off with a proclamation that has left me thinking about her for months: "The thing is," she said, "I'm not interested in the past. Frankly, it's boring. I've moved on."

It could almost be our new national motto: *Malaysia. We've moved on.* We've insulated ourselves inside city-sized malls, to which we drive in SUVs that replicate the temperatures of a Scandinavian spring. So the economy is a little wobbly these days, but we can still afford the Japanese buffets stocked with airflown seafood; we can still queue up for novelty cupcakes and donuts. Yes, we bemoan the government's latest iniquities, the arrests, the covered-up crimes, the wrestling matches in parliament. There's enough to entertain us right here, right now. Why talk about the past? It takes a lot of effort, for unclear rewards, to connect May 13th 1969 with anything that's happening today. And yet I can't shake the conviction that so much of what our nation is began on that day (or in the weeks leading up to it, because the truth is that it didn't just "happen" spontaneously). It was our watershed, and until we acknowledge that, *I* can't move on, and am equal parts impressed and offended by anyone who claims to have done so.

Shih-Li for Frank O'Connor

Congratulations to Shih-Li Kow and to Silverfish. Ripples has been longlisted for the Frank O'Connor Short Story prize (as Wena Poons Lions in Winter was last year).

The list is 57 strong (up from 38 last year) with most entries coming from the US and UK, and there are some pretty big names on there, including Chimananda Ngozi Adichie and Kazuo Ishiguro.

As The Short Review says :

... this is a wonderful move on the part of the organisers, giving much-needed publicity to many, many books not published by mainstream publishers but by small presses without teams of publicists ... . What is also wonderful is that "big" names are alongside newer writers, showcasing that the short story is not just the province of those who have yet to "graduate" to novels!

(Thanks Steven of Horizon Books for sending me the news and the links!)

Writing Against Expectations

People find it quite pleasing to read a novel set in London by a young British writer that takes all kinds of experimental risks ... But if you do that in a Malaysian novel, then all of a sudden you're going to raise eyebrows. I think the Western reading public has decided over the years what it's going to expect from various parts of the world. As a novelist from Southeast Asia, you have to work that much harder to convince people of your way of doing things.

Tash Aw is interviewed by Kevin Rabalais in The Australian about his latest novel Map of the Invisible World.

Reading Lolita in KL

Just thought I'd post this up :

Dear friends,

KL Alternative Bookfest (KLAB) is just around the corner (this weekend...) so if you are planning to go KLABbing this weekend, I'd recommend you stop by SIS booth and attend our reading.

It being a
bookfest means there are quite a few readings but there are some very compelling
reasons why you should attend ours.

1. without divulging too much as it's an experiential thing, let's just say it's going to be dark and very interesting.

2. the reading list is a selection of books banned throughout the ages, including works by Darwin, Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and a few other authors and titles you wouldn't expect to be in the realm of the censored.

3. we've been very lucky to get these booklovers to read (for free and freely) and they are:

hot off the air-con Shanon Shah, Marina Mahathir, Fahmi Fadzil, Cecil Rajendra, Rahmat Haron, Priya K. (young poet), Chi Too (documentary filmmaker and a Mak Bedah), and Aishah Hassan (performing arts student).

Whether this event is (malaysian) shariah-compliant I'm not sure but
it's definitely fatwa-free and 100% mother's day-friendly so bring your BFFs and
their moms and join us as we celebrate the freedom to read.

Here are the details:

Reading Lolita in KL
Sunday, May 10, 2009
4.30pm - 6pm
2nd floor, The Annexe Gallery, Central Market KL


booklovers of
the world unite to take over!

XXXmas

--
Masjaliza Hamzah
Programme Manager (Research & Publications)
Sisters in Islam
7 Jalan 6/10, 46000 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel:603-7785 6121,
Fax:603 7785 8737
Website: www.sistersinislam.org.my

An Apology of Sorts and A Space For You

Sorry guys to leave you all experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Really not good at blogging on the go (other laptops keyboards feel wrong, my fingers are cold). Have plenty to tell you about bookshop preamubulations, novels read (including The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall and Netherland by Joseph O'Neill) historic libraries in rainy Manchester, and Tash's book launch. But you'll have to wait a few more days yet. But meanwhile ... well, I give you this space to tell each other what you've been reading and what you think of it. Be nice to each other.