Ioannis at Borders

You can catch up with author Ioannis Gatsiounis at Borders, The Curve between 3-4pm this Saturday, where he will be signing copies of his new collection of short fiction Velvet and Cinder Blocks.

ZI Publications' Double Book Launch

You're invited to a double book launch by ZI Publications :

I, Too, Am Malay - Zaid Ibrahim's bestselling book Saya Pun Melayu has been translated and is now available in English...

&

Velvet & Cinder Blocks - New York native Ioannis Gatsiounis' debut collection of short stories. (Author of Beyond The Veneer: Malaysia ’s Struggle for Dignity and Direction.)

Join us for this rare double book launch event - the event features both Datuk Zaid and Ioannis discussing their respective books, a Q&A session, autograph-signing, photo snapping....and yes, book buying too!

ALL ARE WELCOME. (Limited space/chairs, so do come early...)

Soft drinks and light snacks provided. (There're LOTS of restaurants downstairs for a proper meal afterwards!)

Details

Date: Friday, Oct 16th, 2009

Venue: PJLA, Jaya One, Jalan Universiti, PJ.

Time: 7.30pm

About the Books :

I, Too, Am Malay, is a collection of Zaid Ibrahim's innermost thoughts on values, attitudes and how future politics in Malaysia must be based on that which is positive and unites all ethnic groups. Tackling controversial issues such as Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy), the rule of law, and the role of the monarchy, Zaid speaks candidly but sincerely about the way forward for democracy in this country currently plagued by political crises.

A successful corporate attorney who created the nation's biggest law firm despite his humble origins in a village in Kelantan, Zaid's journey as a lawyer, politician and philanthropist is depicted here--from his resignation as a Minister and his sacking from UMNO, a party of which he had been a member for 23 years, to his analysis of the current Prime Minister's ability to restore the rakyat's confidence in the government.

I, Too, Am Malay, reveals the hopes and dreams of a Malay who sees the future of the Malays in a refreshed democracy that anchors on common sense and a profound understanding of their place in a world far larger than their own.

Velvet & Cinder Blocks - Gatsiounis' début collection of stories captures the spirit of the individual who struggles to define himself in a world where the idea of identity is both concrete and perpetually fleeting, a world where loyalties, friendships and family ties can alter in an instant. A young painter follows a false prophet deep into a desert. A pious rape victim struggles to see past her faith in the aftermath of a tsunami. A Chinese-American’s Chineseness is put to the test in multiracial Malaysia . A young Malay caretaker and his lone guest at a remote guesthouse struggle to find direction and compassion in an era of stark civilisational divides.

With these 10 well imagined and decadently engrossing stories, Gatsiounis offers us a timely, penetrating meditation on intimacy, alienation and triumph in the post-9/11 world.

If you want to attend then you must RSVP info@zipublications.com.my or call 603-78850020.

Here's the map :

Ioannis Turns to Fiction

Another local author deserving a cheer is Ioannis Gatsiounis with his collection of short stories entitled Velvet & Cinder Blocks. (Thank you ZI Publications for sending me a copy!) Here's the blurb :

Ioannis Gatsiounis’s debut collection of short stories brilliantly captures the spirit of the individual who struggles to define himself in a world where the idea of identity is both concrete and perpetually fleeting, a world where loyalties, friendships and family ties can alter in an instant. A young painter follows a false prophet deep into a desert. A pious rape victim struggles to see past her faith in the aftermath of a tsunami. A Chinese-American’s Chineseness is put to the test in multi-racial Malaysia. A young Malay caretaker and his lone guest at a remote guest house struggle to find direction and compassion in an era of stark civilisational divides.

With these ten beautifully imagined and decadently engrossing stories, Gatsiounis offers us a timely, penetrating meditation on intimacy, alienation and triumph in the post 9/11 world.

(Click covers up to size to read.)

Ioannis' last book was, of course, Beyond the Veneer and some of you will have caught him reading from it at Readings@Seksan last year. (Susan Loone has a very good review of the book here.)

You can find his short story, Fathers, at QLRS.

Talking the Right Talk

Talks to Fahmi Fadzil on PopTV this week is former Law Minister and author Zaid Ibrahim, whose second book Saya Pun Melayu (I Am Also Malay) is available in bookshops nationwide. (Or should be! MagP reports that the first run of 10,000 copies of the new book sold out within a few days of publication!)


I was supposed to go to the launch the other day but wimped out rather when I heard Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Aziz were going to be there too. (So sorry, Ezra!) I enjoy book launches, but am somewhat allergic to politics. Nevertheless, I like what Datuk Zaid is saying very much, found his previous book to be full of the kind of talk that deserves to be walked, and I hope that he will soon be in a position to bring some effective change to the country.

You can read an extract from the forward of the book here, and I hope that there will soon be an English translation. Amir Muhammad reviews the book here.

The launch is reported by Malaysiakini :

Marina's Book

Ooops. One book I meant to publicise and forgot about till just is Marina Mahathir's latest book - 50 Days.

Marina is one of Malaysia's top socio-political bloggers, a longtime newspaper columnist, and an activist fighting the corner of HIV/AIDS sufferers.

For those of you from other places, she also happens to have one of the most famous daddies in the whole land, but is an amazingly down-to-earth person.

Here's the blurb about the book from ZI pulications :

50 Days is a heartwarming account by a daughter who keeps vigil over her father when he goes through his second bypass. The adored father being well known and well loved makes her task extremely delicate for she has to accommodate his well-wishers around the nation (and the world) by keeping them informed of his recovery without compromising her father’s need to rest and recuperate.

This book is based on Marina Mahathir’s blog, Rantings by MM , which became the touchstone for the Malaysian public concerning the progress of Tun Dr. Mahathir’s health in late 2007. With additional commentaries and personal notes included, the story of 50 Days unfolds like a journal and the reader is immersed with the happenings and intimate details of the day.

Tun Dr. Mahathir served as the Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years and his statesmanship continues to be recognised within and on a global scale. His daughter, Marina, is an accomplished writer, activist and blogger whose commentaries on social issues often reflect the collective conscience of the
people.

You can catch Marina's author appearances :

21 Feb 2009, Saturday
Borders - The Curve
Time: 3.00pm

22 Feb 2009, Sunday
Borders - The Gardens
Time: 3.00pm

28 Feb 2009, Saturday
MPH - Midvalley Megamall
Time: 3.00pm

Also on 28th she should be appearing also appearing at Readings@Seksan's. More on this later!

Spooky Book Launch for Undead Malaysians

If you aren't too busy revving your broomstick or sticking your fangs into people's necks or otherwise scaring up the neighborhood, you might like to attend a truly ghoulish halloween launch of not one but several books by ZI publications, Matahari Books and Oxygen.

The books involved are :

Taxi by Khaled al-Khamissi (ZI Publications) (RM25)
The Malaysian Book of The Undead by Danny Lim (Matahari Books) (RM20)

Three mini-books, collectively known as Tiga, published by Oxygen:
- Lost in KL by Bernice Chauly (RM7)
- Kayangan by Ruhayat X (RM7)
- Pasca Manusia by Sufian Abas (RM7)

You are all invited to this unique event. Please see the event's Facebook page for more details and RSVP your attendance there.

Date: Friday, Oct 31st, 2008
Venue: Rahsia Restaurant, KL
Time: 8.00pm - 10.00pm
Dress: Costume (ghost, ancient Egyptian, as yourself, anything you want...).

More about the books later on.

ZI Zips In Zestfully

As promised, guest blogged for us by Ezra Zaid of ZI Pulications :

ZI Publications is looking at producing good quality books for the Malaysian audience (surprise, surprise!). Local publishers have an intimate knowledge of its audiences interest towards topics on Malaysia – its politics/current affairs, history, humour, stories, personalities, etc. But, perhaps what hasn’t been happening as much is keeping up with the variety, quality and substance of books that the public deserves (and probably wants, too!).

Books that carry the ZI Publications logo have to be as good (in all aspects: concept, content, artwork, font size, choice of paper, etc) or better even, especially when they stack up right between Obama’s Audacity of Hope and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner - this is the reality of it.

We are looking to produce / currently producing works of Fiction and Non-Fiction, in both English and Bahasa Malaysia. That said, we feel that there is great potential in the Non-Fiction market for both languages, especially for the Malay language audience. Currently, the public doesn’t truly have the option of reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman or Coelho’s The Alchemist in Bahasa Malaysia; so the translation market is something that we’re going into aggressively - to provide current international bestsellers, books with international critical acclaim, and maybe some of the great classics in Bahasa Malaysia. Every other country is doing the same with their national languages, and it is about time we did too.

Expect to find the following titles from us in Bahasa Malaysia:

The Islamist by Ed Husain (Penguin UK)
No God but God by Reza Aslan (Random House)
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea(Penguin USA)

...and many more to come.

We have other projects/ideas along the way, so stay tuned. Visit us at www.zipublications.com.my and get in touch with us – manuscripts, ideas, comments, opinions, etc., they’re all welcome.

You can also add ZI Publications as a Group on Facebook!

Get that Garouda off the Twin Towers!

Farish Noor, surely one of the most influential contemporary thinkers on the political landscape of this country has a new book out this month. Di Balik Malaysia is a collection of his essays translated into Malay. Hopefully this will mean that Farish's writing will reach a much wider local readership.

Most of the pieces appeared previously in English in From Mahajapahit to Puterajaya (Silverfish Books 2005), but there are also three new pieces written specially for the book. The cover illustration by Fahmi Reza is rather lovely too. Very King Kong Indon style. (Click up to full size and admire.)

Being the lazy so-and-so that I am, I've lifted this synopsis from the English version on the Silverfish website :

Washington has fingered Malaysia as a 'Islamic terrorist hub' several times since 9/11. In this second collection of Farish A Noor's commentaries on unfolding developments in Malaysia (which) is nothing if not timely with the current raging debate on the 'clash of civilisations'. By focusing on specific issues and suddenly erupting controversies, of Malay/Muslim nationalism and (what he calls) the rise of Islamic 'religio facism' in Malaysia and Indonesia, he tries to answer the question: how much of this is caused by Western 'meddling', and how much of it is actually home grown? This book is written in "white heat" of someone personally affected by the events, but at the same time Dr Farish A Noor manages to maintain an academic distance required by the scholar he is. A must read for anyone interested in the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and religio-fascism in the world today, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia.

I had a breakfast meeting Ezra Zaid of ZI publications (which put out this book) the other day. I tell you the guy is absolutely bursting with ideas for great publishing projects. I'm giving him the space here to tell you more very soon.

Oh, and news about the launch party for this book when I have it.