Malaysian literature

Where are the Malays?: Locating the Singaporean Malay in Singa-Pura-Pura

Singa-Pura-Pura boasts an eclectic collection of short speculative fiction from a minority ethnic group in Singapore, exploring worlds where robots are therapists, prayers are read from preloaded cards, and humans are migrating to Mars. Edited by Nazry Bahrawi, the stories consider various spiritual, social, and economic themes, with many leaving me with questions about where we

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Zedeck Siew / Tumblr

Creature comforts: “Creatures of Near Kingdoms”

By Kathy Rowland (650 words, 4-minute read) Zedeck Siew’s Creatures of Near Kingdoms is fashioned as a bestiary, detailing the appearance, characteristics, and habitats of 50 animals and 25 plants. Why “near”? Because like the auto-combusting Ash Swallowtail and the houdini-ish Travelling Coconut, each magical creature demands less of a leap, than a side shuffle,

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Leah Diprose; Supplied

Words in Transit: George Town Literary Festival 2019

By Akanksha Raja (1,715 words, 7-minute read) The George Town Literary Festival returns for its ninth year next weekend (21 – 24 November) with the theme of forewords/afterwords, a decidedly future-oriented focus pertaining to notions of transitions and new beginnings. Some of the festival highlights include a conversation with 2019 Man Booker International Prize winner

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The architecture of patriarchy: The Professor by Faisal Tehrani

Trigger warning: Descriptions of sexual assault. This review contains spoilers for The Professor.  I began Faisal Tehrani’s new novel, The Professor, with the hope that he might provide some new images for Malaysian literature. We desperately need human and nuanced female characters, as well as real representations of female intimacy, so I was intrigued by

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Masalah Sastera Di Malaysia Baharu

Click here to read this article in English. Klik di sini untuk baca rencana ini dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Saya harus berjujur, kita ada masalah dengan sastera kita, dan saya jujur sahaja; saya tidak tahu apakah solusinya. Akan tetapi, sebelum kita ke takah untuk menyelesaikan masalah tersebut; ada baiknya kita juga menjujurkan diri untuk mengakui apakah masalah yang ada. Harapannya

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