The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 15 Jun 2013 11:57 PM PDT A three-day word fest promises writers and readers a literary feast. SINCE time immemorial, language has been linked to civilisations and societal development. Whether spoken or written, words give shape to a language and make it beautiful. They also transcend mediums – from books to films and poetry – in versatile ways that connect people, bring to life heartwarming tales, as well as inspire and fascinate readers and viewers. Indonesia's Bali and Singapore host regular writers' festivals of international repute, so what about Malaysia, which has no shortage of talent? While there are many small book-related events (such as the long-running Readings in KL), those that bring in international authors are few and far between. But we are getting there, it seems, beginning perhaps with #Word: The Cooler Lumpur Festival, organised in partnership with the British Council, MINI and Borders Malaysia to celebrate words. The three-day festival – which takes place from June 21 to 23 at MAP@Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur – comes at a time when Malaysia's literature industry is ripe with potential and promise. It is a "dream come true" for festival director Umapagan Ampikaipakan, who has been wanting to organise something like this for a long time. "You can say I have this crazy obsession for words and books," Umapagan, or Uma as he is known, enthuses during a recent interview. "Organising a literary festival was, for me, the next level of progression for publishing works in Malaysia, whose book scene has become a lot more vibrant than it was say 10 years back. "The prospects are exciting, too, as we wanted to have our own local writers mingle with international authors, a chance they don't often get. Where festivals would usually be headed along the route of attendees meeting authors and getting book autographs, we wanted to offer a platform for writers to engage in fruitful collaborations through meaningful discourses or projects among themselves," explains Uma, a radio presenter and literary critic. "Even with the numerous readings being held from time to time, there is still no real connection between the authors specifically." He says while there was a literary festival organised several years back by Silverfish Books, sustaining it in subsequent years had not been possible. "We hope we can turn this around by making #Word sustainable. Our plan is that starting next year, the festival will be expanded into an all-encompassing multi-arts fest – which will include theatre and music, among others – with words being the centrestage element. "For this year, we have divided the programmes into five separate venues (all within Publika) to cater to different tastes. We reckon that people might be put off if it is curated solely as a literary fest, so it was important to ensure the sessions would be as diverse as possible." The festival will gather reputed local and international writers together, including award-winning author of teenage novels Nicola Morgan, novelist Benjamin Markovits, journalism professor Janet Steele, as well as poet and broadcast journalist Lourd de Veyra from the Philippines. On the local front, there is writer, photographer and filmmaker Bernice Chauly; publisher and independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad; prominent journalist and writer Rehman Rashid; and writer, columnist and activist Marina Mahathir. "I think it's very important for us to promote and encourage local authors, something that Singapore has done really well," says Uma. "There is a growing number of Malaysian writers who are making their mark internationally, and we should strive to keep them writing and see value in their work." A closed-door full-day journalism campus will be held on Friday before the festival proper kicks off at night. From then, it will be a packed schedule consisting of lectures and workshops, film screenings, and even a ghost story-telling session at midnight! Currently, one can already participate in the mini-fiction tweeting competition called #MINIfiction, organised in partnership with MINI, with weekly winners walking away with a new Amazon Kindle. Uma adds that #Word will also play host to the only South-East Asian segment of the Edinburgh World Writers' Conference (EWWC), the world's largest travelling conference on the state of literature. The KL conference will have three panels – covering the topics of "Censorship Today", "Should Literature Be Political?" and "A National Literature" – that will address critical questions affecting literature and society. "We are thankful to both the British Council and EWWC for contributing to this festival's seed funding," he says. British Council Malaysia arts and programmes manager Grey Yeoh says coming onboard for a project such as this is was a "no-brainer" as the organisation is committed to bridging culture and relations in English and the arts, while engaging society in a cross-country exchange of collaborative projects. "We have previously participated in the George Town Literature Festival, which was slightly more cerebral in context, the arts festival Urbanscapes, and now #Word: The Cooler Lumpur," says Yeoh. "Looking at the quality of the programmes, we are confident the festival will do well, as it caters to readers from all age groups and interests. What's also interesting is that we are enabling livestreaming for the event so that countries of different time zones can also participate instantaneously, in real-time." Uma says the take away for him from having organised this festival would be the engagement between people that he seeks to build. "It is important that people talk, connect and learn from each other, not just merely show up at these programmes. We are keeping as many of the sessions free so, hopefully, that becomes an incentive. "With Malaysians reading ever more voraciously now and picking up alternative materials, we know they are ready for a festival like this." #Word: The Cooler Lumpur Festival will take place from June 21-23 at MAP@Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur. For programme details go to coolerlumpur.com/word. Related Stories: |
| Posted: 15 Jun 2013 11:55 PM PDT AWARD-winning British author and professional speaker Nicola Morgan says she will be part of a panel on censorship and free speech at #Word: The Cooler Lumpur Festival. It will see her imparting tips on writing for teenage fiction; she will also talk about her fascination for the reading brain. "The workshop will be for writers wanting to write for teenagers, since my own novels are mostly for this age group and I have written much about the teenage brain." Morgan's book Blame My Brain published in 2005 was shortlisted for the prestigious Aventis Prize; she's also won two Scottish Art Council prizes for her other work. "I'll also conduct a lecture that touches on digital reading and the differences between fiction and non-fiction in terms of reading and the brain," Morgan says in an e-mail interview. She is especially excited to be at the festival, as she has never been to Asia and considers it an honour to be invited to another country. "I'm really looking forward to experiencing different people, ideas, food and climate. And to be at the very first #Word is hugely exciting," she adds. With some 90 books and a slew of awards to her name, Morgan has this advice for budding writers hoping to get published: that they must be writers first and only think about being published later. "Writers need to practise using their talent. When you think about becoming published, understand the market and the industry. Publishing is easy but selling books at a profit is hard. "I had many years of rejection before I had my first novel published – and the reason was that I hadn't yet written the right book or written it well enough. "So, be businesslike, be determined, be brave, be aware, but first be a writer. Write the first draft with your heart and the second with your head," she shares. Morgan opines that the first draft is a combination of inspiration and perspiration, but the rest requires an attempt at objectivity by the person about his/her own work. Having written both fiction and non-fiction stories, Morgan says the two genres are totally different. "I like writing non-fiction because it's easier, while fiction is more satisfying and special," she says. Her current projects include a (non-fiction) guide to teenage stress, to be published next year, and two novels for children. Meanwhile, prominent local publisher Amir Muhammad says this festival, if anything, creates a nice excuse for authors to come out and party, especially as most of them are solitary individuals who work in isolation. "Given that this is its inaugural year, I don't really know what to expect. "But I'm definitely excited, and hope it can become bigger next year. "It's always hard starting out and staying consistent after that," says Amir, who will be part of a panel on publishing. He adds that he will be launching his six short series online called Futura, as well as a newly-published book by one of his writers. "I hope and look forward to meeting nice people at the fest." Related Stories: |
| Posted: 15 Jun 2013 11:58 PM PDT How exactly does a book qualify for Malaysia's only local literary awards? IN just seven days, voting closes for the Popular-The Star Readers' Choice Awards. The 20 wizards of words up for consideration authored the top sellers last year in Popular and Harris bookstores nationwide. These are the books that you liked enough to buy. And, again, you will decide which six out of the 20 will emerge as the top three in the fiction and non-fiction categories. From the time the Readers' Choice Awards (RCA) were mooted, in 2008, they have been about giving the Malaysian public a voice in deciding what they like to read. It has also always been about spotlighting the local publishing industry and giving Malaysian authors a platform for visibility. But then, how do you explain a name like Paul Callan on the list of nominees? Doesn't sound very Malaysian, does it? So what exactly defines a "Malaysian" book? Does it have to be authored by a Malaysian? Must it be about or set in Malaysia? we asked the awards organiser. Apparently, there are three criteria that define eligibility for the RCA and a book only has to meet at least one of them, explains Chew Cheong Tat, the Popular Book Co's English & Malay department's senior merchandising manager. "The first criterion is that the book's author is a Malaysian but the content does not necessarily have to touch on anything Malaysian and the author doesn't have to be residing in Malaysia. For example, Chan Ling Yap who wrote Bittersweet Harvest," Chew says, referring to one of last year's nominees who was living abroad when she wrote her book about the May 1969 riots in Malaysia. "Secondly, the book is locally published but the content does not necessarily touch on anything Malaysian. A good example of this is Tiger Isle by E.S. Shankar (whose book is set on a fictitious island). "And lastly, the book itself focuses on Malaysia, regardless of the origin of its author, and the best example of this is Paul Callan's book (Shadows Beneath The Fronds, which is set in Malaysia)." (Irishman Callan, by the way, is married to a Malaysian and has for several years shuttled between Malaysian and London homes.) Does it matter that there are non-Malaysian authors contesting against Malaysian authors? Chew feels it doesn't, since it is the readers and not the organisers who determine the winners. "Readers will vote for the book of their choice as long as the book appeals to them, regardless of where it was published and what its content is. For example, if the book is published internationally but the story does not really appeal to the readers, naturally the readers will not vote for it, right?" However, E.S. Shankar – nominated in the fiction category for his political satire, Tiger Isle: A Government of Thieves – says, "They should verify that all writers are Malaysian citizens at the time their book is written and published. And there could be an open category for the international writers." Prolific author, columnist and activist Marina Mahathir disagrees with that idea, though, as she believes there should never be different standards set for local books. They must, Marina claims, fight it out with the big guys. "I think it is good that we are judged alongside books and authors that have international recognition like Tan Twan Eng (fiction nominee for his Man Asian Literary Prize-winning The Garden Of Evening Mists). "I wouldn't like there to be a 'local' standard and an 'international' one because the local one would seem inferior," Marina says, adding, "I wouldn't want to be a jaguh kampung (village champion)." Her book, Telling It Straight, is a contender in the non-fiction category. Dina Zaman, author of King of The Sea, a nominee in the fiction category, says the RCA definitely has "room for growth", considering that it is relatively new and believes that the "competition is good as it will make writers work hard at their books." While agreeing with Chew, Cheeming Boey, whose book, When I Was A Kid is a non-fiction nominee, says that the scale is still skewed when one considers the popularity of some of the authors, whose fame go beyond the literary scene. "Some of them are politicians or famous sports figures and they already have a huge fan base outside of literary circles. They are privileged with all the publicity and media coverage. When you factor this in, the gap is unfair. The minute they put anything about themselves out there, their supporters will definitely vote for them. The scale is skewed," Boey laments. Boey believes, though, that since voters are required to vote for the top three books, this may shrink the gap. What of the RCA's judging mechanism; ie, with winners decided entirely by a popular vote? Marina opines that for the fiction category, there could be a "more literary award where (books) are judged for their literary merit and not just popularity, which is what a readers' choice award is. "I think that might be a bit harder to do with non-fiction books, though. But we don't really have a culture of literary criticism in this country anyway." Dina says Malaysia should have other literary awards, perhaps modelled on Britain's prestigious Man Booker Prize and "judged by a discerning panel of judges. There are different types of awards for different reasons." Asserts Shankar, "Some kind of 'weight' should be given to independent judges versus reader voters, perhaps 65:35, so that merit and not sentiment rules." When the RCA was first discussed between Popular and The Star, these and other ideas actually came up. However, the decision made was that this would be a popular (no pun intended!) contest decided by the people who buy the product, the readers. Boey, though, has a word of warning about this: Malaysian authors have a tendency to stick to tried and true formulas that sell. "It's the same thing all the time, what with ghost stories, gossip, love stories and so on. This pattern is ongoing and it is here the international writers have an edge. Their ideas are often times fresh and original. In Malaysia, I find there isn't much originality. "I think what we need are books that can stir people's minds and thoughts. If people can relate to it, then it is good," Boey says. Chew has no problem with this at all, and feels that this is exactly what comes across in this year's books. "I believe that the most important thing is that this year's nominees really wrote from their hearts and the stories mean a lot to them." He goes on to say that, in the future, more categories might be added to the RCA. "Potential categories that may be included in the future are writings for teens, short stories and so on." Awards can and do change as they grow in popularity and influence; given its democratic decided-by-readers origins, what is in store for the RCA might well lie in your hands, dear reader. So write to us at star2@thestar.com.my and tell us what you think about the RCA so far and what you might do with these awards if it were up to you. And don't forget to vote! Because not only will you reward your favourite authors, but you will also stand a chance to win a RM50 Popular book voucher, one year free Popular card membership, and a book hamper worth RM100. The Popular-The Star Readers' Choice Awards 2013 are a precursor to BookFest@Malaysia 2013, which will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from Aug 3 to 11. Admission is with purchase of the BookFest catalogue (RM2.50 each), which will be available at all Popular and Harris bookstores closer to the event's opening date. Entry is free for students aged 18 and below, and senior citizens aged 60 and above. For more information, visit bookfestmalaysia.com. Related Stories: |
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