May 22, 2023 • 49 mins
This is the third special episode brought to you by Aesop Malaysia in conjunction with the Aesop Women's Library: Malaysia Edition.
In this episode, we got Hanna Alkaf, Viji Krishnamoorthy, Alina Rastam, Qurratul ‘Ain, and 梁靖芬 Leong Ching Foon aboard to talk to us about being a woman writer in Malaysia. It is such an illuminating episode and we think we can confidently say that our women writers are forces to be reckoned with.
—
The Aesop Women's Library: Malaysia Edition is happening on the 26th till 28th May 2023 at Aesop Pavilion KL and Aesop The Gardens Mall, and 2nd till 4th June 2023 at Aesop Gurney Plaza, Penang.
Read more about the Aesop Women's Library: Malaysia Edition
Check out the full lineup of complimentary books that will be available!
In this episode, we got Hanna Alkaf, Viji Krishnamoorthy, Alina Rastam, Qurratul ‘Ain, and 梁靖芬 Leong Ching Foon aboard to talk to us about being a woman writer in Malaysia. It is such an illuminating episode and we think we can confidently say that our women writers are forces to be reckoned with.
—
The Aesop Women's Library: Malaysia Edition is happening on the 26th till 28th May 2023 at Aesop Pavilion KL and Aesop The Gardens Mall, and 2nd till 4th June 2023 at Aesop Gurney Plaza, Penang.
Read more about the Aesop Women's Library: Malaysia Edition
Check out the full lineup of complimentary books that will be available!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
This is the third episode in theESTO Malaysia Women's Library podcast series. What's
it like being an author in Malaysiatoday, especially as a woman author in
the era of digital mass media?And how important is it that we continue
to encourage and support our literary arts. That's the question, isn't it,
Diana. Today we have so muchgoing on in our daily lives, and
(00:40):
social and digital media is so pervasive. Most people wake up and the first
thing they do is sit on yourphones. Right. But it might not
surprise you to know that we astwo book nets, think that, of
course, it is very, veryimportant for us to retain our literary arts.
It's also a little bit sad ifall the books that you've ever read
is going to be on digital format, because you know, there's nothing like
(01:03):
holding a book in your hands.But don't take our word for it,
because today we have some special authorsthat are part of the ESAT Women's Library
who will weigh in on their writinglife and also what they feel about literature.
What's up? Book nerdes thanks somuch for joining us for episode three
of our very special triple episode seriesbrought to you in conjunction with ESOT Malaysia
(01:25):
who has put together a unique projectaimed at elevating Malaysian women's voices and stories.
For this event, their stories atPavilion Kuala Lumpur, the Gardens Mall
and Gunny Plaza in Pinang will fora limited time be transformed into the EESA
Women's Library. So these are thedates that you need to pay attention to.
In fact, these are the datesthat I wake up and they flash
(01:48):
in front of my head because I'vebeen saying them so many times. Twenty
six to the twenty eighth of Mayin Klang Valley and second to the fourth
of June in Pinang. Visitors tothe east of stores in Garden Small Pavilion,
Quallumpo and Gurney Plaza can choose fromany of the specially curated selection of
twenty five books to bring home asa gift. No purchase or proof of
(02:13):
loyalty required, So you can comein there and get complimentary books, okay.
And these are not just any randomcollection of books. These are books
that have been meticulously shortlisted by theESOP team as well as the publishers and
bookstores that they're in touch with,chosen to reflect a range of experiences and
topics across the board. So there'snonfiction, there's fiction, memoirs, poetry,
(02:37):
essays, motivational reads, short stories, historical fiction, contemporary fiction,
basically something for every taste under thesun. And if you haven't done so
already, we list out all thebooks available in the list in our previous
two episodes, so do listen outfor that for the full rundown of what's
available. And ESOP is also puttingtogether a special booklet that highlights some of
(03:00):
the women run businesses at eateries inthe Klein Valley in Penang. The readers
can also go and check out Yeah, go out support your sisters. Man.
So the episode today, and thisis a really exciting episode everyone.
We asked questions to some of theselect authors on the ESOP list and they
came back with some really illuminating answerson their own experiences as a woman author
(03:23):
and also their writing journey. Sofor those of you out there who aspire
to become authors, listen up.You might pick up some nuggets of wisdom
from these ladies who have trail blazedtheir way into publishing. It is an
inspiring bunch. So Dinah, whydon't you kick it off. First and
foremost, we have Hannah Alcoff,who needs no introduction. She has two
(03:43):
books up for grabs in the Eastof Women's Library, her iconic and groundbreaking
the Situ Lang Dunjung, which Englishreaders will know as The Weight of Our
Sky, as well as her veryfun and very word nerdery Queen of the
Tiles. Here's Hannah to tell usa little bit about how she fell into
the world of writing. The firsttime I realized I had any sort of
(04:04):
talent in writing, I was abouteight or nine years old, and I
just had one of those incredible mindloing, life changing birthday baptists that you have
at that age that you feel likeyou need to remember for the rest of
your life. And so I decidedthat I was going to write down everything
(04:26):
that happened at my birthday. Andso I did, but in a epic
foreshadowing of what a career as anauthor would be like, I read over
everything that I decided that it wasterrible and threw it away, and then
my mother rescued it from the trashcan and read it and told me,
(04:46):
you know, you're actually really goodat this. You should keep practicing.
And I think that was the firsttime that I got any sort of validation,
any sort of encouragement, any sortof idea that this was something that
I actually had some kind of talentin becoming an author, and the act
(05:09):
of writing in itself, and especiallyfor the audience for whom my books are
meant, which is children and teenagers, has really reinforced the thing that I
always knew to be true as akid who grew up a voracious reader,
which is that the things that youread at this age, as a child
(05:32):
and as a teenager are often booksthat end up shaping you, and books
that you carry with you throughout yourlife, well into adulthood and beyond.
And so to me, the actof writing is not just It's not just
something that I enjoy for its artisticexpression, the creativity, the building of
(05:57):
worlds, and all these things thatI get to do, which admittedly is
all very fun stuff. But it'salso such an honor and a privilege and
a real responsibility to be doing this, for young people, to have the
privilege of having their shelf space,to have the privilege of validating their experiences
(06:20):
and their emotions, of holding upa mirror so that they can see themselves
in fictional worlds, or, inthe case of non religion kids, for
providing windows into insights and worlds andcultures and backgrounds that they've never experienced before.
All of this is just such anincredible, incredible thing to be able
(06:41):
to call your career. And I'mjust very grateful that this is what I
get to do and that this iswho I get to be for other people
in the same way that certain authorshave carried me through my childhood. Great.
It's good to know, isn't it, So everybody, So what we're
gonna do is we're going to introduceeach author and they're going to tell you
(07:03):
a little bit about themselves, andthen we're going to go into questions and
then you will hear the answers fromselected authors, and then me and Diana
will probably wait in on it.So it is an episode that you just
have to pay attention to. Yah. The next author is vig Christia Muti.
Her novel nine one two But toRhode is a debut novel and people
(07:25):
really love this book, you know, and it has also created some busts
internationally. She was nominated for aPrice in Dublin and this is a historical
fiction that follows three generations of twofamilies, the years, and the times.
So here's VG telling you a littlebit about why she loves historical fiction
so much. My name is vigChristian Muti and I'm a confirmed bookaholic.
(07:47):
Books and stories have helped shape anddefine me, and I cannot imagine my
world without them. Well, Ithink it's literature that has informed me as
a writer, and the choice ofbooks and genre and I have read and
in love with. I particularly enjoyhistorical fiction, which, when Donewell marries
fact and fiction seamlessly and takes meback to a time I can only imagine
(08:07):
through books. This is probably whyI attempt to write historical fiction. My
writing process doesn't stack of any structuredstrategy or mind map. If anything,
it is an undisciplined, organic journeywith too many distractions in the form of
friends, wine, jigsaw puzzles,chats and catch ups. Next, we
(08:30):
also spoke to Lang Chingfun, whois an award winning and internationally renowned Malaysian
Chinese writer who has written both fictionand nonfiction. You can get her latest
collection of essays yea Phone par orwater Storm, or her historical novel sweets
Hunt based on the story of Laxamanachin Ho. Here's Chingfun to tell us
a little bit about her writing lifein Malaysia. So weak gums and Ti
(09:00):
Tie has a CFI made to contendecho gulch without her sound from the lead.
Come a young cursin, Young TinTie sich count and her damn sure
to decide. How do you seewhen she curry buy buyo against she die?
(09:24):
So Diana, what did she say? So? Basically, jin Fun
is actually going through and saying thatafter she became a writer, she found
that literature just opened up a worldof possibilities to her, be it in
content or writing style. Every timeshe encountered a good point of view or
writing method, she would soon findan opposing one that would be equally feasible
(09:48):
and exciting. And this made forendless possibilities in the world of literature.
It was kind of like a gameof competing against herself at that time.
And I think that she also thinksthat literature doesn't have to be so factually
correct. You know, you don'thave rush to make conclusions about anything,
and you don't need to please thetimes, which is yeah, I think
(10:09):
I think that's a really good point. I like the fact that it also
kind of relates to being a readeras well, because if you read a
lot of books, you will alwaysfind opposing views to your own, and
that is that's really healthy, Ithink. I mean, I think sometimes
when you sit there and you haveopinions, you just think that your opinion
is the best opinion in the world, and you need to be opposed by
(10:33):
other people. And that's what's greatabout books and having a diverse collection of
books to read from. I lovethat she raised the point that when you're
writing, you're thinking about something andtherefore you kind of like convince yourself of
the opposite as well. Yes,it isn't like cool, that's so cool.
It's like playing book chest if you'reso what you say. Next up
is Karina Robless Bahrain. She isthe author of The Accidental Malae that one
(10:58):
the Epigram book Price in twenty twentytwo, and she spoke to us all
the way from the Philippines. Soshe's visiting some family I believe, and
this book both me and Dina reallyenjoyed. It is a story of a
forty old woman who is an heiressto a Baqua Empire, discovering that she's
actually half Malayu and we love thecandid way that she wrote this book.
(11:22):
So here's Karina tell you a littlebit about herself. Writing, especially fiction,
has always been a form of escapefrom me. I mean, I'm
a big reader, I've always been, and at the same time, I've
also always written. But my novel, The Accidental Malay was actually written during
the COVID nineteen lockdown, the firstone, because I found myself suddenly with
(11:45):
nothing to do and the ability toset aside good blocks of time to finally
pursue my big goal of writing afull length novel. To me, I
think it's not so much about justbecoming an author in writing, it's about
becoming published because once your publisher,work is out there in the world and
it's being shared with other people.And as an author who has a book
(12:11):
out there, you get feedback frompeople and they tell you what they like
or don't like about your work,and you realize that as a published author,
you do have a certain degree ofresponsibility to represent things and tell your
story in the truest or most genuineway possible. Next, we spoke to
(12:33):
Elena Rostam Who's All the Beloved isa wonderful collection of poetry that's available as
part of the Women's Library as well. It's a deep, insightful look into
the Malaysian psyche. We asked Elenato share some of her thoughts about being
an author in Malaysia today. Soabout myself and my personal writing journey.
(12:54):
I've been writing since I was achild, thought I have been gaps and
times in my life when I wastoo busy and by demounds of work or
things like my interests in social activismto write. As a child, I
wrote poetry in short stories, andI kept doing this throughout school and university.
But it got harder to keep writingpoetry when I started working. I
(13:16):
was a journalist for a while andthen a private tutor, and poetry demands
a lot or time and an intensefocus and stillness for me. Anyway,
I would describe my writing poetry asessentially an act or creating and holding interior
space and listening deeply to what arisesin that space and then shaping it into
(13:39):
art. For me, it's anongoing challenge to do this, given that,
as I'm sure you know, lifecan get pretty wild and challenging.
So I described my writing journey interms of often being drawn away from the
work and having to endure times offeeling struck or too exhausted to write,
(14:00):
but always trying to circle back toit. Okay, and a rounding nicely
up is Quarto Ein who is apoet, and I think what she has
to say about a lot of thingsher and Alena is quite interesting because you
know, it's one thing trying toget a novel published, but getting a
book of poetry published is twice ashard. I feel because in Malaysia,
(14:24):
I'm not sure how many people actuallyread poetry or find poetry something recreational that
they want to enjoy. So herpoint of view and Alina's poet view is
always very interesting to me because it'sfor those of you out there who love
poetry. I want to write this. It's good to listen to what they
have to say. Yeah, andshe wrote, of course the collection moment
it's an intimate collection of poetry withlots of religious and ritualistic imagery, because
(14:46):
that is the subject matter she's mostinterested in. I think I started my
writing journey during the year two tentwenty fourteen through blogging. Yeah, Blogging,
to me is the best place forwriters to exercise their thoughts, their
(15:07):
ideas and put it into entries.I owe many things to blogging. I
started to read literary works from Indonesia. I remember very clearly. I read
kay An Noir. He's a prominentpoet from Indonesia, and I was mind
(15:28):
blown. I really wanted to writelike that, beautiful verses, such complex
and mystical views on life. Soyeah, I decided to write very seriously
at the age of eighteen nineteen andI got accepted to University Tykebox Amnesia.
(15:52):
I studied Malay literature, and Ithink my decision to get into literature is
one of the best things because Iget to know authors, especially local authors,
and also academicians or scholars in literaturetoo. That's what makes my writing
(16:14):
journey wonderful. Becoming an author hasshown me the diversity of literature. You
know, the world beyond literature,because there's a different dimensions or realms beyond
literature. When people mention literature,immediately we think of poetry, we think
(16:34):
of novel. Yes that is true, but the content of it, what
it offers, because you can findsociology you can find history, you can
find cultural studies, you can findgeography, even in literature, because that's
what makes a literature literature. Peopleoffer their thoughts. People people right,
(17:00):
they are concerned, they are curacityof such matters. The more you read,
the more you figure out things,the more you discover new things.
Is beyond your world, beyond yourculture, beyond your own language. So
that's what literature is, Okay.So we ask the question on what are
(17:25):
the challenges some of them faced asa woman author, and I think this
is quite an important question to us, especially for people who want to know
what is in store for them ifthey want to publish in Malitia. Well,
I know that women often don't getequal representational support in many places,
and the existence of initiative success suchas the Women's Price for Fiction formerly known
(17:48):
as the Orange Price in the UK, for instance, it's adicative of attempts
to level the playing field, andI'm all for affirmative action of the soul.
I would say though, that myexperience here in Malaysia as a woman
writer has been very positive. Ididn't experience problems getting my books out gender
bookshops or getting them reviewed when theywill published the problems I did face had
(18:12):
to do with bookshops not wanting tostop my books for a long time as
they wanted the shelf space presumably forbooks they are more profit making. At
this point, I want to reallyexpress my appreciation to lit Books, which
is the only bookstore that stops mybooks today, because they decided my work
has value even if it's not breakingin the profits. So for me,
(18:34):
the challenge hasn't been gender, butthe fact the poetry doesn't sell that well
in this market. I wouldn't saythat there are gender specific challenges outright to
becoming a writer in Malaysia and writingin Malaysia. I mean, whether you're
male or female, you face thesame issues of limited avenues for exposure because
(18:56):
our publishing industry is still relatively Butas a woman writer, what has been
great for me to discover is howmy work has resonated with other local women
or women who are living in Malaysiaand the issues that they face in everyday
life. I think one of thechallenges that women writers have to deal with
(19:22):
is people's expectations. If you lookat the history, typically or traditionally,
women are expected to write about marriage, mother who women who you know,
things that are not considered heavy stuffsor critical or intellectual. Because men always
expected to write about politics, abouthistory, about international relations that you know
(19:48):
people perceive as mainly or associated withmen. But no women can write body
too, whom can write about politics, women can write about economics. Another
challenge might be maybe because they cannotexpress too much, people expect women to
be modest, shy, or toopolite. No, women writers nowadays can
(20:11):
talk about many things. They cango beyond things that people think taboo or
embarrassing, like now women can writeabout periods, but menstruations, about childbirth,
about their private parts. We arehaving to be polite, or you
(20:32):
have to use metaphors or no,or can be direct. But still there
are people who think that or womencannot write that, we cannot write this.
And I personally did face some challengesbecause my first poetry book, A
Moment, published by Katalla, Iwrote into religious interfaith team religion. It's
(21:00):
my favorite topic. And during theprocess of writing Moment, I have read
a lot about other religions, comparativereligions, So yeah, it kind of
reflected in my works. Also,so people, some people don't like kids,
and people feel uncomfortable. But thatis because I'm a Muslim so and
(21:23):
I'm a woman, So there's adifference you are a Muslim and a woman
and talk about interfaith or into religiousstuff. So it's challenges that I have
to deal with. My biggest challengeis time. I am a stay at
home mother of two. My childrenare still fairly young, and when I
(21:48):
first started writing, they were younger. Still I find myself constantly juggling schedules
and making judgment call as to whoseschedule is more important and any given time,
and nine times out of ten,it's the children's schedules that I have
(22:10):
to work around and not the otherway around. So time is always a
struggle for me, and in mybiggest challenge is making sure that I am
able to fit the pieces of mylife around the pieces of theirs and make
sure that nobody has to sacrifice anyparticular piece in order to make the other
person happy in order to accommodate theother person. And these are things I'm
(22:33):
still learning as I go and adaptingas needs change, as my kids grow
older and what they need changes.So yeah, my biggest challenge has always
been has always been time and jugglingthese many different roles and learning to hold
that space for myself as well.So you've heard Alina, Karina, Hannah,
(22:57):
and Coratos answers to this question.And I also really liked Fiji's answer
where she said that she didn't reallythink there was a lot of gender bias
in publishing in Malaysia, but shethought it was challenging as a Suffeast Asian
writer to break into international writing.And also Chinghun told us that she didn't
(23:21):
really face many gender challenges in theindustry, but she did think that sometimes
people tend to frame women authors aswomen authors, you know, instead of
writing like on the blurb of abook that her friend published, they wrote
that she was the best female MalaysianChinese author, and they were thinking,
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you know, why does she haveto be the best female Malayian Chinese author.
Why couldn't she just be the bestMalaysian author, Right, So that's
something that people always tend to needto highlight that she is a female author
rather than just an author. Ingeneral, it's an achievement to be a
woman. Yeah, exactly, Isuppose it is. But I think that
(24:03):
there's some kind of parallel similarities towhat Corato was saying as well, is
that it's not only that people wantto box you as a female writer.
They also have sometimes certain things thatthey feel is inappropriate for women to write.
And sometimes this self censorship, Ithink comes from the people who write
themselves think like, oh, isthis too much for me to write?
I might expect it to just writeabout things that are in the feminine sphere
(24:26):
only. So I think it's reallyinteresting to hear what they have to say.
Firstly, being a poet is somuch harder than being a novelist,
but also the fact that sometimes beinga female author also means you yourself have
to have a mind shift on thethings that you want to write to be
brave, you know, because Malaysiahas a lot of censorship in some ways,
(24:49):
not just from authorities, but fromthe readers themselves. I also would
like to say that even though youare a woman, you don't always have
to write only about women's issues,right, And that's one of the things
that happens when you are a minoritywriter. It tends to be that you
have to represent your whole subsegment ofthe culture, and that can be a
(25:14):
bit of a burden where you justwant to be. I just want to
talk about things that also affect alot of other people. I don't have
to represent Malaysian women specifically, andneither do I have to represent women specifically,
right, I can just write aboutexperiences that affect everyone. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. It is abit of a mindfield these days to be
a writer. There's so many taboosubjects, so many I don't know,
(25:37):
trigger warnings, and sometimes you justwant to be creative, you know.
Yeah. Anyway, kudos to allthese women. That's all I'm saying.
Next question, Dina. We alsoask our authors about being readers in Malaysia
and what they think are some ofthe challenges facing the literary community and what
they think can be done to addressthese challenges. Whoa who is a sing
(26:07):
not a way to the boom tonetouch the sing puba tan tong ran two
thousands to a peak or Montana repeata country pay for way. This is
when you using to the s whenyou sichually meet me into the tutsis young
conns or who paid the tay tonice to a pipa used during a tunis
(26:32):
and then during aduna girl to insanesou treatising in ba Insian toga to nigger
and your meal is you actually candacome to the sun Twigian room for tante
(26:52):
footing. Your agent haunts root UsoMonterrey Calibba. You heard takuan U sing
pier loose through the tap Talku womanShini somewhat to the sow. Being a
synthans can count. When I write, I don't always remember that I am
(27:14):
a woman. Likewise, as areader, I don't have to choose reading
materials based on my gender. Certainly, we are happiest and we feel seen
when we read works that truly reflectwho we are. But as a female
reader, I think the primary challengewe face in the literary community is that
on occasion we are told what toread. So as a woman or as
(27:36):
a woman, you are told youought to read certain things. We need
to raise awareness of these kinds ofstereotypes and disrupt them. As for how
we overcome them, I think wehave to go back to the individual who
has to ask themselves if they havethe desire to have a greater outlook on
life and to experience different things.I'd like to suggest a small independent bookstore
(27:57):
called Moon Tree at Telling Street inkl They stop many books on the topics
of gender, books by women,as well as books that explore identity and
social issues. I don't think enoughMalaysians read. Actually, that's probably our
fundamental problem. We're not reading society, whether we're male or female. I
(28:18):
mean, when it comes to womenreading in Malaysians, sometimes I feel it's
almost a revolutionary act to walk intoa restaurant, sit down, for example,
have dinner by yourself and read.People look at you. I hope
that more women not only read byencourage the children to read, because this
is the only way that we willgrow as a reading society, and which
(28:40):
will also in turn encourage more Malaysianliterature to surface and more publishers to want
to publish our stories. The costof books is prohibitive, and more attention
needs to be paid to libraries andthe crucial role they play in bringing books
to people. I also think weought to have more local books in Mandarin
(29:00):
and Tamo to be translated into Bahassaand English. We have so many Malaysian
writers who write in their own languagesand it would be so enriching we could
read each other's stories. So accessibilityand a spotlight on Malaysian stories, I
think would be wonderful to see.I think that there have always been a
lot of think pieces that bemoans orof the state of reading in Malaysia and
(29:22):
why we don't have enough readers andwhy kids are reading less. But honestly,
I think if we resolved the problemof access to books, I think
we'd see a sharp uptick in thenumber of people who are actually reading them.
When I say access, what Imean is not just more libraries that
(29:44):
are easy to get to, butlibraries that are well resourced and well stocked
and well equipped. I mean booksthat are available in a variety of different
languages. I mean lower price pointsin bookstores for new books, all sorts
of things that can be done toactually increase access to books for readers.
(30:07):
So yeah, I think if we, if we could somehow handle this problem
of accessibility, I think getting morebooks into the hands of more readers can
only be a good thing, notjust for the state of our literary community,
but for the state of the countryas a whole. Accident. That
(30:27):
was kind of cool, actually,and I think a lot of what these
authors say also kind of resonate withus because we are also of course a
woman reader and read as for QuartelIron, she also had some very interesting
things to say about the fact that, especially for writings on women and women
(30:48):
writing things, there's sometimes not enoughcritical perspectives and philosophical views that involve women
and women issues. A lot ofit is very simplistic, and she stands
that is because we are actually alot of the times hindered by customs,
or by religion, or even bylocal culture. But for her as a
writer, it is important that shewrites about women and write it more in
(31:14):
a philosophical way so that there's amore critical understanding about what it's like to
be a woman in modern day.Right, there's a rarely cry from her
to get women to be more braveto support each other, because a lot
of the times sometimes women themselves don'tsupport other women. You know, it's
actually women who tell other women youshouldn't say that, there's a bit taboo,
(31:36):
or you're going to get into trouble. And in a way there's a
solidarity. There's a call for solidarity, I feel, and especially with something
like the esat Women's Library, forwomen voices to unite as well and to
support each other. So thanks Coretto, I think this is very important.
So the next question we ask themwhat they thought about the ESAUT Women's Library
and also how important it is tohave initiated like this that gets the word
(32:00):
out to have, as Diana saidin the last episode, to have a
corporate entity actually support literature right andthe writing of literature. When I first
heard of the Women's Library, Ithought it was such a generous, wonderful
and fun idea to turn their stores, which in my opinion, our libraries
of all delightful and heavy sense,to one celebrating and championing women writers.
(32:24):
And I think it's a fantastic wayof bringing Malaysian women writers to people and
to encourage the Rakia to go beyondthe digital and hold a physical book in
one's hands. The ESA Women's Libraryis a fantastic project that not only helps
Malaysian female authors get more exposure,but also Malayian female readers gain access to
(32:46):
maybe writers that they never considered ornever even knew about, who are telling
their stories. And this is importantbecause the perspective of the female in Malaysian
literature is something that although is isyou know, becoming more prominent, still
deserves a lot more light and spacethan it currently gets. Our stories are
(33:09):
different than the stories of men,and they matter and they you know,
should be paid attention to and shouldbe shared. So yeah, I mean
a project like this can only helptake Malaysian female writing further, and so
Women's Library, in my opinion,it's a huge deal. It's a huge
(33:31):
thing because the key is to celebratelocal authors. This is the most important
part, local authors, local writers, especially it's women writers, and it
comes from a huge Jurish brand.This is what it makes it very important
because who else want to introduce theseauthors to the international audience. People can
(33:59):
get a site about Malician literature.There's a lot of hidden gems, especially
many women writers write about different cultures, the unique imaginations. Your perspective on
women who about genders should be septed. I think we unfortunately still live in
(34:22):
an age where it's not uncommon tosee panels and boardrooms and entire swaths of
decision makers that only consist of men. And so I think it's an excellent
initiative to center women's narratives and women'svoices. And I think we could stand
(34:45):
to have more of such initiatives tobe honest, I also think it's a
great thing to put books into readershands, especially from authors that they might
not have known of before. Anythingthat gets more books into the hands of
(35:07):
more readers, I'm one hundred percenton board with. So I couldn't be
happier to have two of my ownbooks featured in the Women's Library. As
for my thoughts about the he servesWomen's Library and how important it is that
women's Malaysian women's perspectives are being celebratedin this way, I think it's a
(35:28):
wonderful initiative. Of course, Iknow that the moment people hear Women's Library,
many will say why women only?Why not men? It's like a
knee reaction an initiative like this.To me, it's not saying that men's
perspectives are not important, but welive in a society where men's perspectives and
voices are still far more heart thanwomen's. Most of the top people in
(35:52):
government, political parties, business,the media, law, in fact,
in most professions are men, andwe hear the perspectives all the time.
So for me, it's really greatto have a project which basically showcases Malaysian
women writers and says These are someof the issues they're concerned about. Here
(36:12):
are some of the voices, theirperspectives and their creative endeavors. I was
at the Ease of Office last weekand I briefly looked through the books that
are selected for the women's library,and it was such a wonderful experience.
It made me feel that we asMalasians are so rich to have all that
talent and a huge diversity in termsof languages, genres, subject matter,
(36:35):
concerns and perspectives that is presented bythe writers. We Malaysians really are so
lucky to have this project, thiswealth forare creativity. And it was so
inspiring for me to look at allthese books. And I'm really sure that
the people who turn up to theevent will find it just as inspiring.
Side it, it's not wrong withscience. So Ian nash Her Naikan,
(37:01):
the Tohaku such Adden news in TooSupa Hotel Dutta since Siender Sapian, the
Putong Putong Yen, the woman daughterwho can sa the suicided yen, the
Tropi na yuji Kai she can can'tcreate, the toya ali being the new
(37:22):
sing toods, the Tea Tai.Now, how you Shongotai to na she
is jong kuanong done thing money,didn't ye make one see the tea sing
so her way down the sun Faruse this young tong Sonatians of the Nigga
sung Nigga daily being pies out doso Tagawa sha hi Kudaman singd Issa reminds
(37:45):
me of those children's tables I readso often in my childhood. I find
the eas of women's library even quiterefreshing. It's a way to introduce Malaysian
women's writers and their works to thepublic. Because of the difference in language,
most of us from different origins willonly read works in the language we
are familiar with, and we rarelyhave the opportunity to go across borders to
(38:07):
see the subject matter of other femaleauthors from our country. I also find
that embracing literature is a philosophical wayof life, to encourage us to embrace
tolerance and calm, and it remindsus that it's okay to slow down and
take time to smell the roses.It's a little like the effect of fragrance
(38:27):
on the psyche. I had thesame feeling when I was having the photoshoot
at the East of offices the otherday. That's a lot like the feeling
that literature gives me that is lovely. Trust an author to come up with
the most lovely way of putting it. Oh my god, Honestly, I
think they said it all. Ithink our female authors that we gotten soundbites
(38:51):
from Dinah has pretty much said whatwe feel about the whole project. But
the East of Woman's Library. Youknow, one of the great things about
doing this is that when you talkto people whose job it is to play
around with words, they come upwith the most lovely things to say.
No thing, it's their job.Yeah, they're supposed to make you smile
(39:13):
and also make you weep, amark of a good author. Yeah,
and also because you know, likewe have so many wonderful authors to choose
from. I think we often forgetthat authors start off as readers. So
even if they have a book inthis women's library, they're probably also going
to be quite interested to find outwhat other books are available to bring home
(39:37):
for themselves. So we pose thequestion next that if they were given the
choice, which of the twenty fivebooks in the East of Women's Library collection
they would choose to bring home.Given the choice, which are the books
and the east of Women's Library wouldI choose to bring home? I choose
Lake Maliboo and Other Stories by Zoemade Tan. I saw it in Little
(39:59):
Books the other day. It lookedtrue it and it looked really interesting,
So yes, that would be mychoice. This was actually an easier question
that I thought, because when Ilooked over the list, I realized that
I actually already own most of thesebooks that are at least the ones in
BM and in English. But ofthe ones that I have not read or
do not own, I'm most intriguedby the Barrio journals, and I'm very
(40:22):
excited to pick up a copy,although obviously not at the Women's Library.
I'll buy my own copy, butI'm very excited to learn about that and
to pick that up because it looksincredibly interesting. The truth is, if
I look at the list, someof my favorite Malaysian female authors who are
(40:42):
writing in English are on the list, and I've already read their books.
So I think if I had tochoose a book to take home, I
would choose a Malay one. Kamalia'sbook Kota is interesting to me because it's
it's a thriller. And there arenot many female writers who generally write in
that particular genre. So to reada Malay writer writing in that genre and
(41:04):
a woman on top of that,I think would be great. I don't
want to choose. I want tobring all twenty five books with me,
and I've seen the list and Inever read any of them. I never
heard any of them. Then,yes, I don't want to choose.
I want to have it all.I'm sorry. That's all of us,
(41:25):
isn't it. Sorry? Everyone,You guys who are going to come for
this event as well, you canonly take a one book home, but
you can probably find the rest ofthem in all your good bookstores all over
kl Okay. Now, the questionthat me and Diana always always love to
(41:45):
ask any author or any book netis that do they have any book recommendations?
So we post a question to allthe authors what would be other local
female authors that they would recommend thatwas not on the ESOP list? And
oh my god, Diana, Ithink my TBR just got bigger. Here
(42:06):
are great, great suggestions for youguys to check out. Sara's Manicam and
she davey Ayer are two authors Iwould highly recommend both both Malaysians. She
Davy I believe lives in Australia.If you like short story collections, I'd
suggest Host Films Lake Like a Mirror. It's translated into English from its original
(42:30):
Chinese, and also Ripples by Sheliko. I love those two collections a lot.
And novels. There's some new onesthat I've come out which are interesting,
Peter Samaris and Our Tale of theDreamish Sun and Shivani Sevie Gurnadan's Yelpanam
for a Diet, So check thoseout. Yeah, so I've got two
(42:51):
suggestions. The first one is Rosalieand Other Love Songs, which happens to
have been written by my sister,the extremely gifted, composed and historians a
Itta Rastam. Of course, thefact that my sisters the author of the
book probably has some bearing on mygreat esteem for the book. But I
really think that anyone who has aninterest in our rich musical history and how
(43:14):
music has played a huge part inthe formation of our cultural and national narratives
should read the book. It's notan easy read, but it's a meticulously
research and deeply felt love song toMalaysia's musical heritage. The other book I
recommend is Peter Samarasan's first book,Evening is the Whole Day. It was
(43:36):
published in two thousand and eight,and I think I thought then when I
first read it, and I thinknow that it's a fine achievement and really
worth reading. I want to suggesttwo books that our look authors, and
both are from Born New. Firstis Susan Lady Bahu by Sah. I've
(43:58):
written an easy about this book.This is actually a good poetry book.
Do the language, the flair,the perspective on life. You can sense
the struggles in her writings. Forme kind of underappreciated her choice of words
sometimes, you know, make youthink why you don't write like this?
(44:22):
So yes, that's one better.She's from Sabbah. Second is Sarah Kin.
Her name is Clarissa K. Sulai. Her poetry book Missa, is
recently just published. She's very young, I think she's in her early twenties,
(44:43):
but her writing is so beautiful.This is very interesting poetry book because
she writes about christ Ti in Malaylanguage, which sounds odd and foreign,
right because Basama you often associated withIslam. She took the challenge and wrote
poems about Christianity that is her belief. That is her religion, and she
(45:08):
is religious but in Malay language,and it's so beautiful. I cannot describe
how beautiful is. But I thinkshe's going to be one of the prominent
poets. She has that depth ofunderstanding her own religion, her own belief,
(45:28):
so you will be my blown bythe language. Recently, Matta Harry
Books published a lovely picture book calledwhy Can't We Take More? Or Manadu,
And it's this beautifully illustrated picture bookthat is inspired by these stories of
(45:52):
the Batte people. I think it'sjust a really gorgeous little book. I
had multiple copies sent over so thatI could give them away as gifts,
and I just think it's just notonly amazing because it's so well produced,
well written and beautifully illustrated and thingslike that, but also because it does
(46:13):
something very important, which is upliftthe voices of our indigenous communities which don't
get pushed enough in the narrative.So I would love if more people could
check that one out from my theHarry Books. So after listening to all
that, did you like us takeout your phones and start scribbling furiously to
(46:37):
write down all the suggestions that theyhad. We could probably talk to authors
all day long, right, honey. It's so lovely that they not only
have this insight into creating literature,they also are people who really appreciate and
engage in literature all the time.They're readers just like us. You know.
They enjoy books, probably a lotmore than a lot of people actually,
(47:00):
because they really get to see whatit's like to to think about the
book as a writer as well.Okay, everyone, that is our third
episode for the Esop Women's Library,and we really really hope that we will
see all of you there. Now. If you want to know a little
bit about the books, please listento our episode one and episode two.
(47:23):
Episode one tells you about the dietproject as well as the nonfiction reads.
Episode two is all about fiction andpoetry. Yes, come, one,
come all and again. These arethe dates twenty six to the twenty eighth
of May and Esop Pavilion Quallumbo andGarden Small and the second to the fourth
of June at Gurney Plaza Pinang.Be sure to head down to their stores
(47:46):
at these dates to go and claimyour choice of book from their collection of
twenty five specially created titles, andyou know there's something you really don't amiss
because it being an event meets,it's going to be a really holistic experience
where your senses of sight, sounds, smell, touch and even taste are
(48:06):
all engaged. And what does thatmean while you're just going to have to
visit the stores and find out andreally, if it's anything like what they
had in Singapore, it's going tobe amazing. Yeah, you want to
be a part of this because it'sreally cool. You get a book to
take home as well as a listof places that you can go later to
have a cup of tea, tohave a scone, to have a conversation
(48:29):
about the book that you've picked.So ESO also has a list of cafes
and places that you can go tothe air also female run you know in
a way. So yeah, immerseyourself in the love of sisterhood and bring
friends, you know, bring friends, bring family, bring anyone who enjoys
(48:50):
something beautiful. This episode was broughtto you by ESO Malaysia, Production and
editing by Stephanie On and Hadi Ahmad. Got something pressing to share with us?
Email us at book nets, talkingat gmail dot com or reach out
to us at TBNT Books on Instagram, two book nets talking on Facebook or
tbnt pot on Twitter. You've beenlistening to myself, Diana Young and me
(49:14):
Honey Ahmad. Until next time,happy reading book nets and see you at
the ESOP Women's Library
This is the third episode in theESTO Malaysia Women's Library podcast series. What's
it like being an author in Malaysiatoday, especially as a woman author in
the era of digital mass media?And how important is it that we continue
to encourage and support our literary arts. That's the question, isn't it,
Diana. Today we have so muchgoing on in our daily lives, and
(00:40):
social and digital media is so pervasive. Most people wake up and the first
thing they do is sit on yourphones. Right. But it might not
surprise you to know that we astwo book nets, think that, of
course, it is very, veryimportant for us to retain our literary arts.
It's also a little bit sad ifall the books that you've ever read
is going to be on digital format, because you know, there's nothing like
(01:03):
holding a book in your hands.But don't take our word for it,
because today we have some special authorsthat are part of the ESAT Women's Library
who will weigh in on their writinglife and also what they feel about literature.
What's up? Book nerdes thanks somuch for joining us for episode three
of our very special triple episode seriesbrought to you in conjunction with ESOT Malaysia
(01:25):
who has put together a unique projectaimed at elevating Malaysian women's voices and stories.
For this event, their stories atPavilion Kuala Lumpur, the Gardens Mall
and Gunny Plaza in Pinang will fora limited time be transformed into the EESA
Women's Library. So these are thedates that you need to pay attention to.
In fact, these are the datesthat I wake up and they flash
(01:48):
in front of my head because I'vebeen saying them so many times. Twenty
six to the twenty eighth of Mayin Klang Valley and second to the fourth
of June in Pinang. Visitors tothe east of stores in Garden Small Pavilion,
Quallumpo and Gurney Plaza can choose fromany of the specially curated selection of
twenty five books to bring home asa gift. No purchase or proof of
(02:13):
loyalty required, So you can comein there and get complimentary books, okay.
And these are not just any randomcollection of books. These are books
that have been meticulously shortlisted by theESOP team as well as the publishers and
bookstores that they're in touch with,chosen to reflect a range of experiences and
topics across the board. So there'snonfiction, there's fiction, memoirs, poetry,
(02:37):
essays, motivational reads, short stories, historical fiction, contemporary fiction,
basically something for every taste under thesun. And if you haven't done so
already, we list out all thebooks available in the list in our previous
two episodes, so do listen outfor that for the full rundown of what's
available. And ESOP is also puttingtogether a special booklet that highlights some of
(03:00):
the women run businesses at eateries inthe Klein Valley in Penang. The readers
can also go and check out Yeah, go out support your sisters. Man.
So the episode today, and thisis a really exciting episode everyone.
We asked questions to some of theselect authors on the ESOP list and they
came back with some really illuminating answerson their own experiences as a woman author
(03:23):
and also their writing journey. Sofor those of you out there who aspire
to become authors, listen up.You might pick up some nuggets of wisdom
from these ladies who have trail blazedtheir way into publishing. It is an
inspiring bunch. So Dinah, whydon't you kick it off. First and
foremost, we have Hannah Alcoff,who needs no introduction. She has two
(03:43):
books up for grabs in the Eastof Women's Library, her iconic and groundbreaking
the Situ Lang Dunjung, which Englishreaders will know as The Weight of Our
Sky, as well as her veryfun and very word nerdery Queen of the
Tiles. Here's Hannah to tell usa little bit about how she fell into
the world of writing. The firsttime I realized I had any sort of
(04:04):
talent in writing, I was abouteight or nine years old, and I
just had one of those incredible mindloing, life changing birthday baptists that you have
at that age that you feel likeyou need to remember for the rest of
your life. And so I decidedthat I was going to write down everything
(04:26):
that happened at my birthday. Andso I did, but in a epic
foreshadowing of what a career as anauthor would be like, I read over
everything that I decided that it wasterrible and threw it away, and then
my mother rescued it from the trashcan and read it and told me,
(04:46):
you know, you're actually really goodat this. You should keep practicing.
And I think that was the firsttime that I got any sort of validation,
any sort of encouragement, any sortof idea that this was something that
I actually had some kind of talentin becoming an author, and the act
(05:09):
of writing in itself, and especiallyfor the audience for whom my books are
meant, which is children and teenagers, has really reinforced the thing that I
always knew to be true as akid who grew up a voracious reader,
which is that the things that youread at this age, as a child
(05:32):
and as a teenager are often booksthat end up shaping you, and books
that you carry with you throughout yourlife, well into adulthood and beyond.
And so to me, the actof writing is not just It's not just
something that I enjoy for its artisticexpression, the creativity, the building of
(05:57):
worlds, and all these things thatI get to do, which admittedly is
all very fun stuff. But it'salso such an honor and a privilege and
a real responsibility to be doing this, for young people, to have the
privilege of having their shelf space,to have the privilege of validating their experiences
(06:20):
and their emotions, of holding upa mirror so that they can see themselves
in fictional worlds, or, inthe case of non religion kids, for
providing windows into insights and worlds andcultures and backgrounds that they've never experienced before.
All of this is just such anincredible, incredible thing to be able
(06:41):
to call your career. And I'mjust very grateful that this is what I
get to do and that this iswho I get to be for other people
in the same way that certain authorshave carried me through my childhood. Great.
It's good to know, isn't it, So everybody, So what we're
gonna do is we're going to introduceeach author and they're going to tell you
(07:03):
a little bit about themselves, andthen we're going to go into questions and
then you will hear the answers fromselected authors, and then me and Diana
will probably wait in on it.So it is an episode that you just
have to pay attention to. Yah. The next author is vig Christia Muti.
Her novel nine one two But toRhode is a debut novel and people
(07:25):
really love this book, you know, and it has also created some busts
internationally. She was nominated for aPrice in Dublin and this is a historical
fiction that follows three generations of twofamilies, the years, and the times.
So here's VG telling you a littlebit about why she loves historical fiction
so much. My name is vigChristian Muti and I'm a confirmed bookaholic.
(07:47):
Books and stories have helped shape anddefine me, and I cannot imagine my
world without them. Well, Ithink it's literature that has informed me as
a writer, and the choice ofbooks and genre and I have read and
in love with. I particularly enjoyhistorical fiction, which, when Donewell marries
fact and fiction seamlessly and takes meback to a time I can only imagine
(08:07):
through books. This is probably whyI attempt to write historical fiction. My
writing process doesn't stack of any structuredstrategy or mind map. If anything,
it is an undisciplined, organic journeywith too many distractions in the form of
friends, wine, jigsaw puzzles,chats and catch ups. Next, we
(08:30):
also spoke to Lang Chingfun, whois an award winning and internationally renowned Malaysian
Chinese writer who has written both fictionand nonfiction. You can get her latest
collection of essays yea Phone par orwater Storm, or her historical novel sweets
Hunt based on the story of Laxamanachin Ho. Here's Chingfun to tell us
a little bit about her writing lifein Malaysia. So weak gums and Ti
(09:00):
Tie has a CFI made to contendecho gulch without her sound from the lead.
Come a young cursin, Young TinTie sich count and her damn sure
to decide. How do you seewhen she curry buy buyo against she die?
(09:24):
So Diana, what did she say? So? Basically, jin Fun
is actually going through and saying thatafter she became a writer, she found
that literature just opened up a worldof possibilities to her, be it in
content or writing style. Every timeshe encountered a good point of view or
writing method, she would soon findan opposing one that would be equally feasible
(09:48):
and exciting. And this made forendless possibilities in the world of literature.
It was kind of like a gameof competing against herself at that time.
And I think that she also thinksthat literature doesn't have to be so factually
correct. You know, you don'thave rush to make conclusions about anything,
and you don't need to please thetimes, which is yeah, I think
(10:09):
I think that's a really good point. I like the fact that it also
kind of relates to being a readeras well, because if you read a
lot of books, you will alwaysfind opposing views to your own, and
that is that's really healthy, Ithink. I mean, I think sometimes
when you sit there and you haveopinions, you just think that your opinion
is the best opinion in the world, and you need to be opposed by
(10:33):
other people. And that's what's greatabout books and having a diverse collection of
books to read from. I lovethat she raised the point that when you're
writing, you're thinking about something andtherefore you kind of like convince yourself of
the opposite as well. Yes,it isn't like cool, that's so cool.
It's like playing book chest if you'reso what you say. Next up
is Karina Robless Bahrain. She isthe author of The Accidental Malae that one
(10:58):
the Epigram book Price in twenty twentytwo, and she spoke to us all
the way from the Philippines. Soshe's visiting some family I believe, and
this book both me and Dina reallyenjoyed. It is a story of a
forty old woman who is an heiressto a Baqua Empire, discovering that she's
actually half Malayu and we love thecandid way that she wrote this book.
(11:22):
So here's Karina tell you a littlebit about herself. Writing, especially fiction,
has always been a form of escapefrom me. I mean, I'm
a big reader, I've always been, and at the same time, I've
also always written. But my novel, The Accidental Malay was actually written during
the COVID nineteen lockdown, the firstone, because I found myself suddenly with
(11:45):
nothing to do and the ability toset aside good blocks of time to finally
pursue my big goal of writing afull length novel. To me, I
think it's not so much about justbecoming an author in writing, it's about
becoming published because once your publisher,work is out there in the world and
it's being shared with other people.And as an author who has a book
(12:11):
out there, you get feedback frompeople and they tell you what they like
or don't like about your work,and you realize that as a published author,
you do have a certain degree ofresponsibility to represent things and tell your
story in the truest or most genuineway possible. Next, we spoke to
(12:33):
Elena Rostam Who's All the Beloved isa wonderful collection of poetry that's available as
part of the Women's Library as well. It's a deep, insightful look into
the Malaysian psyche. We asked Elenato share some of her thoughts about being
an author in Malaysia today. Soabout myself and my personal writing journey.
(12:54):
I've been writing since I was achild, thought I have been gaps and
times in my life when I wastoo busy and by demounds of work or
things like my interests in social activismto write. As a child, I
wrote poetry in short stories, andI kept doing this throughout school and university.
But it got harder to keep writingpoetry when I started working. I
(13:16):
was a journalist for a while andthen a private tutor, and poetry demands
a lot or time and an intensefocus and stillness for me. Anyway,
I would describe my writing poetry asessentially an act or creating and holding interior
space and listening deeply to what arisesin that space and then shaping it into
(13:39):
art. For me, it's anongoing challenge to do this, given that,
as I'm sure you know, lifecan get pretty wild and challenging.
So I described my writing journey interms of often being drawn away from the
work and having to endure times offeeling struck or too exhausted to write,
(14:00):
but always trying to circle back toit. Okay, and a rounding nicely
up is Quarto Ein who is apoet, and I think what she has
to say about a lot of thingsher and Alena is quite interesting because you
know, it's one thing trying toget a novel published, but getting a
book of poetry published is twice ashard. I feel because in Malaysia,
(14:24):
I'm not sure how many people actuallyread poetry or find poetry something recreational that
they want to enjoy. So herpoint of view and Alina's poet view is
always very interesting to me because it'sfor those of you out there who love
poetry. I want to write this. It's good to listen to what they
have to say. Yeah, andshe wrote, of course the collection moment
it's an intimate collection of poetry withlots of religious and ritualistic imagery, because
(14:46):
that is the subject matter she's mostinterested in. I think I started my
writing journey during the year two tentwenty fourteen through blogging. Yeah, Blogging,
to me is the best place forwriters to exercise their thoughts, their
(15:07):
ideas and put it into entries.I owe many things to blogging. I
started to read literary works from Indonesia. I remember very clearly. I read
kay An Noir. He's a prominentpoet from Indonesia, and I was mind
(15:28):
blown. I really wanted to writelike that, beautiful verses, such complex
and mystical views on life. Soyeah, I decided to write very seriously
at the age of eighteen nineteen andI got accepted to University Tykebox Amnesia.
(15:52):
I studied Malay literature, and Ithink my decision to get into literature is
one of the best things because Iget to know authors, especially local authors,
and also academicians or scholars in literaturetoo. That's what makes my writing
(16:14):
journey wonderful. Becoming an author hasshown me the diversity of literature. You
know, the world beyond literature,because there's a different dimensions or realms beyond
literature. When people mention literature,immediately we think of poetry, we think
(16:34):
of novel. Yes that is true, but the content of it, what
it offers, because you can findsociology you can find history, you can
find cultural studies, you can findgeography, even in literature, because that's
what makes a literature literature. Peopleoffer their thoughts. People people right,
(17:00):
they are concerned, they are curacityof such matters. The more you read,
the more you figure out things,the more you discover new things.
Is beyond your world, beyond yourculture, beyond your own language. So
that's what literature is, Okay.So we ask the question on what are
(17:25):
the challenges some of them faced asa woman author, and I think this
is quite an important question to us, especially for people who want to know
what is in store for them ifthey want to publish in Malitia. Well,
I know that women often don't getequal representational support in many places,
and the existence of initiative success suchas the Women's Price for Fiction formerly known
(17:48):
as the Orange Price in the UK, for instance, it's adicative of attempts
to level the playing field, andI'm all for affirmative action of the soul.
I would say though, that myexperience here in Malaysia as a woman
writer has been very positive. Ididn't experience problems getting my books out gender
bookshops or getting them reviewed when theywill published the problems I did face had
(18:12):
to do with bookshops not wanting tostop my books for a long time as
they wanted the shelf space presumably forbooks they are more profit making. At
this point, I want to reallyexpress my appreciation to lit Books, which
is the only bookstore that stops mybooks today, because they decided my work
has value even if it's not breakingin the profits. So for me,
(18:34):
the challenge hasn't been gender, butthe fact the poetry doesn't sell that well
in this market. I wouldn't saythat there are gender specific challenges outright to
becoming a writer in Malaysia and writingin Malaysia. I mean, whether you're
male or female, you face thesame issues of limited avenues for exposure because
(18:56):
our publishing industry is still relatively Butas a woman writer, what has been
great for me to discover is howmy work has resonated with other local women
or women who are living in Malaysiaand the issues that they face in everyday
life. I think one of thechallenges that women writers have to deal with
(19:22):
is people's expectations. If you lookat the history, typically or traditionally,
women are expected to write about marriage, mother who women who you know,
things that are not considered heavy stuffsor critical or intellectual. Because men always
expected to write about politics, abouthistory, about international relations that you know
(19:48):
people perceive as mainly or associated withmen. But no women can write body
too, whom can write about politics, women can write about economics. Another
challenge might be maybe because they cannotexpress too much, people expect women to
be modest, shy, or toopolite. No, women writers nowadays can
(20:11):
talk about many things. They cango beyond things that people think taboo or
embarrassing, like now women can writeabout periods, but menstruations, about childbirth,
about their private parts. We arehaving to be polite, or you
(20:32):
have to use metaphors or no,or can be direct. But still there
are people who think that or womencannot write that, we cannot write this.
And I personally did face some challengesbecause my first poetry book, A
Moment, published by Katalla, Iwrote into religious interfaith team religion. It's
(21:00):
my favorite topic. And during theprocess of writing Moment, I have read
a lot about other religions, comparativereligions, So yeah, it kind of
reflected in my works. Also,so people, some people don't like kids,
and people feel uncomfortable. But thatis because I'm a Muslim so and
(21:23):
I'm a woman, So there's adifference you are a Muslim and a woman
and talk about interfaith or into religiousstuff. So it's challenges that I have
to deal with. My biggest challengeis time. I am a stay at
home mother of two. My childrenare still fairly young, and when I
(21:48):
first started writing, they were younger. Still I find myself constantly juggling schedules
and making judgment call as to whoseschedule is more important and any given time,
and nine times out of ten,it's the children's schedules that I have
(22:10):
to work around and not the otherway around. So time is always a
struggle for me, and in mybiggest challenge is making sure that I am
able to fit the pieces of mylife around the pieces of theirs and make
sure that nobody has to sacrifice anyparticular piece in order to make the other
person happy in order to accommodate theother person. And these are things I'm
(22:33):
still learning as I go and adaptingas needs change, as my kids grow
older and what they need changes.So yeah, my biggest challenge has always
been has always been time and jugglingthese many different roles and learning to hold
that space for myself as well.So you've heard Alina, Karina, Hannah,
(22:57):
and Coratos answers to this question.And I also really liked Fiji's answer
where she said that she didn't reallythink there was a lot of gender bias
in publishing in Malaysia, but shethought it was challenging as a Suffeast Asian
writer to break into international writing.And also Chinghun told us that she didn't
(23:21):
really face many gender challenges in theindustry, but she did think that sometimes
people tend to frame women authors aswomen authors, you know, instead of
writing like on the blurb of abook that her friend published, they wrote
that she was the best female MalaysianChinese author, and they were thinking,
(23:42):
you know, why does she haveto be the best female Malayian Chinese author.
Why couldn't she just be the bestMalaysian author, Right, So that's
something that people always tend to needto highlight that she is a female author
rather than just an author. Ingeneral, it's an achievement to be a
woman. Yeah, exactly, Isuppose it is. But I think that
(24:03):
there's some kind of parallel similarities towhat Corato was saying as well, is
that it's not only that people wantto box you as a female writer.
They also have sometimes certain things thatthey feel is inappropriate for women to write.
And sometimes this self censorship, Ithink comes from the people who write
themselves think like, oh, isthis too much for me to write?
I might expect it to just writeabout things that are in the feminine sphere
(24:26):
only. So I think it's reallyinteresting to hear what they have to say.
Firstly, being a poet is somuch harder than being a novelist,
but also the fact that sometimes beinga female author also means you yourself have
to have a mind shift on thethings that you want to write to be
brave, you know, because Malaysiahas a lot of censorship in some ways,
(24:49):
not just from authorities, but fromthe readers themselves. I also would
like to say that even though youare a woman, you don't always have
to write only about women's issues,right, And that's one of the things
that happens when you are a minoritywriter. It tends to be that you
have to represent your whole subsegment ofthe culture, and that can be a
(25:14):
bit of a burden where you justwant to be. I just want to
talk about things that also affect alot of other people. I don't have
to represent Malaysian women specifically, andneither do I have to represent women specifically,
right, I can just write aboutexperiences that affect everyone. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. It is abit of a mindfield these days to be
a writer. There's so many taboosubjects, so many I don't know,
(25:37):
trigger warnings, and sometimes you justwant to be creative, you know.
Yeah. Anyway, kudos to allthese women. That's all I'm saying.
Next question, Dina. We alsoask our authors about being readers in Malaysia
and what they think are some ofthe challenges facing the literary community and what
they think can be done to addressthese challenges. Whoa who is a sing
(26:07):
not a way to the boom tonetouch the sing puba tan tong ran two
thousands to a peak or Montana repeata country pay for way. This is
when you using to the s whenyou sichually meet me into the tutsis young
conns or who paid the tay tonice to a pipa used during a tunis
(26:32):
and then during aduna girl to insanesou treatising in ba Insian toga to nigger
and your meal is you actually candacome to the sun Twigian room for tante
(26:52):
footing. Your agent haunts root UsoMonterrey Calibba. You heard takuan U sing
pier loose through the tap Talku womanShini somewhat to the sow. Being a
synthans can count. When I write, I don't always remember that I am
(27:14):
a woman. Likewise, as areader, I don't have to choose reading
materials based on my gender. Certainly, we are happiest and we feel seen
when we read works that truly reflectwho we are. But as a female
reader, I think the primary challengewe face in the literary community is that
on occasion we are told what toread. So as a woman or as
(27:36):
a woman, you are told youought to read certain things. We need
to raise awareness of these kinds ofstereotypes and disrupt them. As for how
we overcome them, I think wehave to go back to the individual who
has to ask themselves if they havethe desire to have a greater outlook on
life and to experience different things.I'd like to suggest a small independent bookstore
(27:57):
called Moon Tree at Telling Street inkl They stop many books on the topics
of gender, books by women,as well as books that explore identity and
social issues. I don't think enoughMalaysians read. Actually, that's probably our
fundamental problem. We're not reading society, whether we're male or female. I
(28:18):
mean, when it comes to womenreading in Malaysians, sometimes I feel it's
almost a revolutionary act to walk intoa restaurant, sit down, for example,
have dinner by yourself and read.People look at you. I hope
that more women not only read byencourage the children to read, because this
is the only way that we willgrow as a reading society, and which
(28:40):
will also in turn encourage more Malaysianliterature to surface and more publishers to want
to publish our stories. The costof books is prohibitive, and more attention
needs to be paid to libraries andthe crucial role they play in bringing books
to people. I also think weought to have more local books in Mandarin
(29:00):
and Tamo to be translated into Bahassaand English. We have so many Malaysian
writers who write in their own languagesand it would be so enriching we could
read each other's stories. So accessibilityand a spotlight on Malaysian stories, I
think would be wonderful to see.I think that there have always been a
lot of think pieces that bemoans orof the state of reading in Malaysia and
(29:22):
why we don't have enough readers andwhy kids are reading less. But honestly,
I think if we resolved the problemof access to books, I think
we'd see a sharp uptick in thenumber of people who are actually reading them.
When I say access, what Imean is not just more libraries that
(29:44):
are easy to get to, butlibraries that are well resourced and well stocked
and well equipped. I mean booksthat are available in a variety of different
languages. I mean lower price pointsin bookstores for new books, all sorts
of things that can be done toactually increase access to books for readers.
(30:07):
So yeah, I think if we, if we could somehow handle this problem
of accessibility, I think getting morebooks into the hands of more readers can
only be a good thing, notjust for the state of our literary community,
but for the state of the countryas a whole. Accident. That
(30:27):
was kind of cool, actually,and I think a lot of what these
authors say also kind of resonate withus because we are also of course a
woman reader and read as for QuartelIron, she also had some very interesting
things to say about the fact that, especially for writings on women and women
(30:48):
writing things, there's sometimes not enoughcritical perspectives and philosophical views that involve women
and women issues. A lot ofit is very simplistic, and she stands
that is because we are actually alot of the times hindered by customs,
or by religion, or even bylocal culture. But for her as a
writer, it is important that shewrites about women and write it more in
(31:14):
a philosophical way so that there's amore critical understanding about what it's like to
be a woman in modern day.Right, there's a rarely cry from her
to get women to be more braveto support each other, because a lot
of the times sometimes women themselves don'tsupport other women. You know, it's
actually women who tell other women youshouldn't say that, there's a bit taboo,
(31:36):
or you're going to get into trouble. And in a way there's a
solidarity. There's a call for solidarity, I feel, and especially with something
like the esat Women's Library, forwomen voices to unite as well and to
support each other. So thanks Coretto, I think this is very important.
So the next question we ask themwhat they thought about the ESAUT Women's Library
and also how important it is tohave initiated like this that gets the word
(32:00):
out to have, as Diana saidin the last episode, to have a
corporate entity actually support literature right andthe writing of literature. When I first
heard of the Women's Library, Ithought it was such a generous, wonderful
and fun idea to turn their stores, which in my opinion, our libraries
of all delightful and heavy sense,to one celebrating and championing women writers.
(32:24):
And I think it's a fantastic wayof bringing Malaysian women writers to people and
to encourage the Rakia to go beyondthe digital and hold a physical book in
one's hands. The ESA Women's Libraryis a fantastic project that not only helps
Malaysian female authors get more exposure,but also Malayian female readers gain access to
(32:46):
maybe writers that they never considered ornever even knew about, who are telling
their stories. And this is importantbecause the perspective of the female in Malaysian
literature is something that although is isyou know, becoming more prominent, still
deserves a lot more light and spacethan it currently gets. Our stories are
(33:09):
different than the stories of men,and they matter and they you know,
should be paid attention to and shouldbe shared. So yeah, I mean
a project like this can only helptake Malaysian female writing further, and so
Women's Library, in my opinion,it's a huge deal. It's a huge
(33:31):
thing because the key is to celebratelocal authors. This is the most important
part, local authors, local writers, especially it's women writers, and it
comes from a huge Jurish brand.This is what it makes it very important
because who else want to introduce theseauthors to the international audience. People can
(33:59):
get a site about Malician literature.There's a lot of hidden gems, especially
many women writers write about different cultures, the unique imaginations. Your perspective on
women who about genders should be septed. I think we unfortunately still live in
(34:22):
an age where it's not uncommon tosee panels and boardrooms and entire swaths of
decision makers that only consist of men. And so I think it's an excellent
initiative to center women's narratives and women'svoices. And I think we could stand
(34:45):
to have more of such initiatives tobe honest, I also think it's a
great thing to put books into readershands, especially from authors that they might
not have known of before. Anythingthat gets more books into the hands of
(35:07):
more readers, I'm one hundred percenton board with. So I couldn't be
happier to have two of my ownbooks featured in the Women's Library. As
for my thoughts about the he servesWomen's Library and how important it is that
women's Malaysian women's perspectives are being celebratedin this way, I think it's a
(35:28):
wonderful initiative. Of course, Iknow that the moment people hear Women's Library,
many will say why women only?Why not men? It's like a
knee reaction an initiative like this.To me, it's not saying that men's
perspectives are not important, but welive in a society where men's perspectives and
voices are still far more heart thanwomen's. Most of the top people in
(35:52):
government, political parties, business,the media, law, in fact,
in most professions are men, andwe hear the perspectives all the time.
So for me, it's really greatto have a project which basically showcases Malaysian
women writers and says These are someof the issues they're concerned about. Here
(36:12):
are some of the voices, theirperspectives and their creative endeavors. I was
at the Ease of Office last weekand I briefly looked through the books that
are selected for the women's library,and it was such a wonderful experience.
It made me feel that we asMalasians are so rich to have all that
talent and a huge diversity in termsof languages, genres, subject matter,
(36:35):
concerns and perspectives that is presented bythe writers. We Malaysians really are so
lucky to have this project, thiswealth forare creativity. And it was so
inspiring for me to look at allthese books. And I'm really sure that
the people who turn up to theevent will find it just as inspiring.
Side it, it's not wrong withscience. So Ian nash Her Naikan,
(37:01):
the Tohaku such Adden news in TooSupa Hotel Dutta since Siender Sapian, the
Putong Putong Yen, the woman daughterwho can sa the suicided yen, the
Tropi na yuji Kai she can can'tcreate, the toya ali being the new
(37:22):
sing toods, the Tea Tai.Now, how you Shongotai to na she
is jong kuanong done thing money,didn't ye make one see the tea sing
so her way down the sun Faruse this young tong Sonatians of the Nigga
sung Nigga daily being pies out doso Tagawa sha hi Kudaman singd Issa reminds
(37:45):
me of those children's tables I readso often in my childhood. I find
the eas of women's library even quiterefreshing. It's a way to introduce Malaysian
women's writers and their works to thepublic. Because of the difference in language,
most of us from different origins willonly read works in the language we
are familiar with, and we rarelyhave the opportunity to go across borders to
(38:07):
see the subject matter of other femaleauthors from our country. I also find
that embracing literature is a philosophical wayof life, to encourage us to embrace
tolerance and calm, and it remindsus that it's okay to slow down and
take time to smell the roses.It's a little like the effect of fragrance
(38:27):
on the psyche. I had thesame feeling when I was having the photoshoot
at the East of offices the otherday. That's a lot like the feeling
that literature gives me that is lovely. Trust an author to come up with
the most lovely way of putting it. Oh my god, Honestly, I
think they said it all. Ithink our female authors that we gotten soundbites
(38:51):
from Dinah has pretty much said whatwe feel about the whole project. But
the East of Woman's Library. Youknow, one of the great things about
doing this is that when you talkto people whose job it is to play
around with words, they come upwith the most lovely things to say.
No thing, it's their job.Yeah, they're supposed to make you smile
(39:13):
and also make you weep, amark of a good author. Yeah,
and also because you know, likewe have so many wonderful authors to choose
from. I think we often forgetthat authors start off as readers. So
even if they have a book inthis women's library, they're probably also going
to be quite interested to find outwhat other books are available to bring home
(39:37):
for themselves. So we pose thequestion next that if they were given the
choice, which of the twenty fivebooks in the East of Women's Library collection
they would choose to bring home.Given the choice, which are the books
and the east of Women's Library wouldI choose to bring home? I choose
Lake Maliboo and Other Stories by Zoemade Tan. I saw it in Little
(39:59):
Books the other day. It lookedtrue it and it looked really interesting,
So yes, that would be mychoice. This was actually an easier question
that I thought, because when Ilooked over the list, I realized that
I actually already own most of thesebooks that are at least the ones in
BM and in English. But ofthe ones that I have not read or
do not own, I'm most intriguedby the Barrio journals, and I'm very
(40:22):
excited to pick up a copy,although obviously not at the Women's Library.
I'll buy my own copy, butI'm very excited to learn about that and
to pick that up because it looksincredibly interesting. The truth is, if
I look at the list, someof my favorite Malaysian female authors who are
(40:42):
writing in English are on the list, and I've already read their books.
So I think if I had tochoose a book to take home, I
would choose a Malay one. Kamalia'sbook Kota is interesting to me because it's
it's a thriller. And there arenot many female writers who generally write in
that particular genre. So to reada Malay writer writing in that genre and
(41:04):
a woman on top of that,I think would be great. I don't
want to choose. I want tobring all twenty five books with me,
and I've seen the list and Inever read any of them. I never
heard any of them. Then,yes, I don't want to choose.
I want to have it all.I'm sorry. That's all of us,
(41:25):
isn't it. Sorry? Everyone,You guys who are going to come for
this event as well, you canonly take a one book home, but
you can probably find the rest ofthem in all your good bookstores all over
kl Okay. Now, the questionthat me and Diana always always love to
(41:45):
ask any author or any book netis that do they have any book recommendations?
So we post a question to allthe authors what would be other local
female authors that they would recommend thatwas not on the ESOP list? And
oh my god, Diana, Ithink my TBR just got bigger. Here
(42:06):
are great, great suggestions for youguys to check out. Sara's Manicam and
she davey Ayer are two authors Iwould highly recommend both both Malaysians. She
Davy I believe lives in Australia.If you like short story collections, I'd
suggest Host Films Lake Like a Mirror. It's translated into English from its original
(42:30):
Chinese, and also Ripples by Sheliko. I love those two collections a lot.
And novels. There's some new onesthat I've come out which are interesting,
Peter Samaris and Our Tale of theDreamish Sun and Shivani Sevie Gurnadan's Yelpanam
for a Diet, So check thoseout. Yeah, so I've got two
(42:51):
suggestions. The first one is Rosalieand Other Love Songs, which happens to
have been written by my sister,the extremely gifted, composed and historians a
Itta Rastam. Of course, thefact that my sisters the author of the
book probably has some bearing on mygreat esteem for the book. But I
really think that anyone who has aninterest in our rich musical history and how
(43:14):
music has played a huge part inthe formation of our cultural and national narratives
should read the book. It's notan easy read, but it's a meticulously
research and deeply felt love song toMalaysia's musical heritage. The other book I
recommend is Peter Samarasan's first book,Evening is the Whole Day. It was
(43:36):
published in two thousand and eight,and I think I thought then when I
first read it, and I thinknow that it's a fine achievement and really
worth reading. I want to suggesttwo books that our look authors, and
both are from Born New. Firstis Susan Lady Bahu by Sah. I've
(43:58):
written an easy about this book.This is actually a good poetry book.
Do the language, the flair,the perspective on life. You can sense
the struggles in her writings. Forme kind of underappreciated her choice of words
sometimes, you know, make youthink why you don't write like this?
(44:22):
So yes, that's one better.She's from Sabbah. Second is Sarah Kin.
Her name is Clarissa K. Sulai. Her poetry book Missa, is
recently just published. She's very young, I think she's in her early twenties,
(44:43):
but her writing is so beautiful.This is very interesting poetry book because
she writes about christ Ti in Malaylanguage, which sounds odd and foreign,
right because Basama you often associated withIslam. She took the challenge and wrote
poems about Christianity that is her belief. That is her religion, and she
(45:08):
is religious but in Malay language,and it's so beautiful. I cannot describe
how beautiful is. But I thinkshe's going to be one of the prominent
poets. She has that depth ofunderstanding her own religion, her own belief,
(45:28):
so you will be my blown bythe language. Recently, Matta Harry
Books published a lovely picture book calledwhy Can't We Take More? Or Manadu,
And it's this beautifully illustrated picture bookthat is inspired by these stories of
(45:52):
the Batte people. I think it'sjust a really gorgeous little book. I
had multiple copies sent over so thatI could give them away as gifts,
and I just think it's just notonly amazing because it's so well produced,
well written and beautifully illustrated and thingslike that, but also because it does
(46:13):
something very important, which is upliftthe voices of our indigenous communities which don't
get pushed enough in the narrative.So I would love if more people could
check that one out from my theHarry Books. So after listening to all
that, did you like us takeout your phones and start scribbling furiously to
(46:37):
write down all the suggestions that theyhad. We could probably talk to authors
all day long, right, honey. It's so lovely that they not only
have this insight into creating literature,they also are people who really appreciate and
engage in literature all the time.They're readers just like us. You know.
They enjoy books, probably a lotmore than a lot of people actually,
(47:00):
because they really get to see whatit's like to to think about the
book as a writer as well.Okay, everyone, that is our third
episode for the Esop Women's Library,and we really really hope that we will
see all of you there. Now. If you want to know a little
bit about the books, please listento our episode one and episode two.
(47:23):
Episode one tells you about the dietproject as well as the nonfiction reads.
Episode two is all about fiction andpoetry. Yes, come, one,
come all and again. These arethe dates twenty six to the twenty eighth
of May and Esop Pavilion Quallumbo andGarden Small and the second to the fourth
of June at Gurney Plaza Pinang.Be sure to head down to their stores
(47:46):
at these dates to go and claimyour choice of book from their collection of
twenty five specially created titles, andyou know there's something you really don't amiss
because it being an event meets,it's going to be a really holistic experience
where your senses of sight, sounds, smell, touch and even taste are
(48:06):
all engaged. And what does thatmean while you're just going to have to
visit the stores and find out andreally, if it's anything like what they
had in Singapore, it's going tobe amazing. Yeah, you want to
be a part of this because it'sreally cool. You get a book to
take home as well as a listof places that you can go later to
have a cup of tea, tohave a scone, to have a conversation
(48:29):
about the book that you've picked.So ESO also has a list of cafes
and places that you can go tothe air also female run you know in
a way. So yeah, immerseyourself in the love of sisterhood and bring
friends, you know, bring friends, bring family, bring anyone who enjoys
(48:50):
something beautiful. This episode was broughtto you by ESO Malaysia, Production and
editing by Stephanie On and Hadi Ahmad. Got something pressing to share with us?
Email us at book nets, talkingat gmail dot com or reach out
to us at TBNT Books on Instagram, two book nets talking on Facebook or
tbnt pot on Twitter. You've beenlistening to myself, Diana Young and me
(49:14):
Honey Ahmad. Until next time,happy reading book nets and see you at
the ESOP Women's Library
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