Silverfish Public Talk -- March 2014

Topic: Uneasy Alliances, Writers and the University: A Report from Both Sides of the (Diasporic) Border by Shirley Lim
Venue: Silverfish Books Sdn Bhd, 28-1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-22844837
Date & time: Saturday, 15 March, 2014 at 5.30pm

An abstract by Ms Lim says: "While writing is often constructed as a solitary endeavour undertaken by an individual talent, works of literature, particularly contemporary fiction and poetry, achieve their reputation and after-life through the circuits of public reception, often with academics and scholars as gatekeepers. This talk looks at the cognitive dissonance, complicity and negotiations undertaken in that relationship in the U.S., and asks what and why is the state of that relationship in Malaysia."

Okay. If that was a mouthful, Shirley clarifies: This will NOT be an academic paper with endless citations, but an Alice through the Looking Glass, let's go down that rabbit hole together evening ...

As Malaysians, we like to claim Shirley Lim as our own. Universities teach her books, she continues to sell steadily in our bookshops, and she has lots of friends and relatives here. If Lin Yutang was right when he said, "What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?" then she is thoroughly Malaysian. Yet, by citizenship she's American, and a proud one at that.

Her biodata is a mile long, so we shall simply highlight a few points.(If you want to know more, look here.) She was born in 1944 in Malacca, Malaysia, and describes herself as "a wild girl who ran with the boys and alone through the streets" (Among the White Moon Faces, 49). In interviews, she has talked about her "stubborn spirit" that she utilized in school, making her a leader as well as an outcast. She has reportedly said, "Growing up when I did, there weren't many other recreational alternatives, and I had a pretty unhappy childhood ... Reading was a huge solace, retreat, escape. I was a really obsessive reader. Somewhere along the line, I had a sense I should write about things I knew rather than read about things I didn't know. I wanted to write my own voice, my own community."

Her early education was at a Catholic convent school under the British colonial education system. She won a federal scholarship to the University of Malaya which she attended from 1964 to 1969, earning a BA with First Class Honors in English. In 1969, at the age of twenty-four, she entered graduate school at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, earning her Ph.D. in English and American Literature in 1973.

She says that poetry is her driving passion. "That was my first form of literary expression and is the most primal for me." Her first poem was written and then published in the Malacca Times when she was ten. Her first book of poetry, Crossing the Peninsula and Other Poems, won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1980. She was the first woman and the first Asian to receive the award.

Shirley Lim is disarming, articulate, intelligent and a wonderful human being. So, come, let's go down that rabbit hole together with a glass of red -- bring a bottle  if you can! -- or tea, or water (plain or sugared).

Admission is free, but do RSVP by replying this email, or call Phek Chin at the number above. (We need to know how many chairs we need to put out.)

The Shirley Lim writing workshop is here again

This is the third time we are holding a writing workshop by Shirley Lim. The last two were sold very quietly. She is a very good teacher indeed.

Sources, Selves and Stories: Mimesis and Mirrors.
Silverfish 2014 Writers Workshop, facilitator Shirley Geok-lin Lim.
Sunday, March 16, 2014, 9.30am -- 5.00pm. (One-day workshop)
Fee: MYR: 400.00 (Earlybird fee of MYR360.00 will apply to fully paid registrations before 5 March 2014)
Limited to 16 participants.
Registration link: http://www.silverfishbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13&products_id=1987

The day’s prompt is writing on what you know, what you see, what you don’t know, and what others see. The time is dedicated to generating writing as content and as literary stylistics. The workshop is structured as quadrants, with individual, small group and whole workshop activities.

Schedule summary:

9.30 am --11.00 am: The first quarter is composed of introductions, as others see you, as you see yourself, and to know your own strengths and goals.
11.00 am --1.00 pm: The second quarter will focus on time spent on writing, either beginning a new project or working with an on-going project.
1.00 pm -- 2.00 pm: Lunch break
2.00 pm  -- 3.15 pm: The third quarter is workshop-focused: small group sharing, critiquing, revisioning the big picture, and minding/mining the particulars.
3.15 pm -- 4.15 pm: The last quarter is rewriting the workshop project: reframing, cutting, expanding, refining, and polishing.
4.15 pm -- 5.00 pm: The last segment of the workshop is celebrating your work with readings and final assessments on takeaways.

About the facilitator:
Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s  (Fulbright and Wien International Scholar; Ph.D. Brandeis University) Crossing the Peninsula received the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. She’s published seven poetry collections; three books of short stories; two novels (Joss and Gold and Sister Swing); a children’s novel, Princess Shawl, translated into Chinese; and The Shirley Lim Collection. Her memoir, Among the White Moon Faces, received the American Book Award. Author of two critical studies, she edited/co-edited Reading the Literatures of Asian America; Approaches to Kingston’s The Woman Warrior; Transnational Asia Pacific; Power, Race and Gender in Academe; Transnational Asian American Literature; The Forbidden Stitch: An Asian American Women's Anthology (1990 American Book Award winner); Writing Singapore; and other volumes; edited/co-edited Journal of Transnational American Studies and other journals. She served as Women’s Studies Chair (UCSB) and Chair Professor of English (HKU) and is Research Professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. Awarded the Multiethnic Literatures of the United States Lifetime Achievement Award and UCSB Faculty Research Lecture Award, she has taught at CUNY, SUNY, MIT, National Institute of Education (NTU), National Sun Yat-Sen University, National University of Singapore, and City University of Hong Kong.

Silverfish Public Talk -- Rehman Rashid

     Silverfish Public Talk -- January 2014

Topic: Articulating a Nation
Venue: Silverfish Books Sdn Bhd, 28-1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-22844837
Date & time: Saturday, 18 January, 2014 at 5.30pm

Rehman Rashid's A Malaysian Journey, when it was first published in 1993, practically exploded on the Malaysian cultural and literary conciousness with its warts and all, non-tourism approach to the society and culture. It was a nation we all knew existed, which we loved (and still do) immensely, but dared not (and many of us still dare not) speak its name. It was a book that dared to escape (no, tear off) long-existing literary (and cultural) shackles of parochialism that had confined us to our own race and religion for so long, and to embrace our real identity as all-inclusive Malaysians. A Malaysian Journey told us that it's all right to love ourselves for what we are; no apologies needed. One could say, it was a much-awaited (and needed) turning point in Malaysian literature.

Rehman Rashid's A Malaysian Journey commemorated its 20th anniversary in 2013, with a new edition in hardback, with a new preface and end-paper maps. The book, that was hailed as a 'modern Malaysian classic', still is now, perhaps more than ever before, speaking to a new generation of readers, explaining why things are the way they are in this country.

The author's topic for the public talk at Silverfish Books, Articulating a Nation,  will focus "on the need to speak for others in a nation now composed entirely of them." A reviewer wrote in Amazon.com that "as more Malaysians become like Rehman, the accuracy of this book will fade into fable." Sorry, not happening. More Malaysians are, certainly, thinking like Rehman Rashid, but we are also seeing more circling of wagons.

Expect Rehman Rashid to be articulate and engaging. It will be an interesting evening. (Bring a bottle of red if you can!)

Admission is free, but do email us if you are attending, for us to estimate the numbers.

Launch of Rozlan Mohd Noor's new books.

Rozlan Mohd Noor will launch his new book, Bayu, on Saturday, December 7, 2013, at 5.30pm at Silverfish Books, 28-1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: +603-22844837.
Everyone is welcome, but do let us know how many will be turning up.

Bayu is a departure from the Inspector Mislan series, and is altogether more ambitious, telling the story from the point of view of the criminal.

You know the author, here's something about the book:

“Encik, how shall I address you?”
The line goes quiet as TJ considers the question. He remembers the breeze as he lay on the beach cooking up this scheme.
“You may call me Bayu.”
“Bayu, you mean like the wind?”
“Yes.”
“Encik Bayu, how do we contact you?”
“You know you cannot contact the wind. You can only hear it when it chooses to let you,” TJ chuckles.

Bayu is a master criminal, also known as The Planner, who wants to retire with a signature caper, by testing his wits against the best. What better way to achieve that than to kidnap an American and engage the CIA, he reasons. Robberies give quick highs and rewards, but he is interested in worldwide notoriety. He settles on kidnapping because the adrenalin rush lasts longer and he’ll get more coverage.

“No, this is no ordinary kidnapping. He is taking this public and it is to his advantage. He is not communicating with the family and that can only mean he's not open to negotiations.”
“More importantly, by not communicating with the family, he has eliminated the one method we had to nail him,” Ong points out. “We can’t track his calls.”
The two men look at him.
“He calls himself Bayu. Does that mean anything?” Jack asks.
“Bayu is wind or breeze in Malay. He is telling us we can hear, feel and see his handiwork, but not him.”

But there is one problem: the target he chooses turns out to be the grandson of the US Secretary of State, and the second anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden is coming up. When news of the kidnapping gets out and into the press, every one is on the alert: governments, every Islamic terrorist group trying to make a claim to fame, the CIA, the Interpol and ... very quickly becomes an “oh, shit!” situation. A wonderful romp.

Barbara Ismail at the Lincoln Corner

This is on short notice, yes.  The Lincoln corner is organising a roundtable with  Barbara Ismail (the author of Shadow Play) on Saturday, November 9, at the Lincoln corner at the Kuala Lumpur Library (Jalan Raja/Dataran Merdeka) at 10:00 am – 11:00 am. She will be discussing the influences on her writing work, her passion, and her time in Kelantan. She would also like to get a feel for Malaysian writing and publishing while she's here.  Please email Gerard George of the Lincoln Center:  GeorgeG2@state.gov if you are interested to attend. We believe that places are limited.

About this author
Barbara Ismail spent several years in Kelantan, Malaysia in the 1970s and '80s, living in Kampong Dusun and Pengkalan Chepa, studying Wayang Siam and the Kelantanese dialect. She holds a Ph.D in Anthropology from Yale University, and is originally from Brooklyn, New York. Shadow Play is the first in Barbara Ismail's series of "Kain Songket Mysteries" based in Kelantan.