The writing on our walls (The Nation 1-11-2010)

[bachkylan]

SEAWRITE
The writing on our walls

Meet the eight Southeast Asians who’ll receive SeaWrite Awards in Bangkok on Friday.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and his consort Her Royal Highness Princess Srirasm will preside at the 2010 SEAWrite Awards gala dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Friday.

Here are brief looks at the eight winners of this year’s Southeast Asian Writers Awards. Burma and Cambodia are not represented this year.

THAILAND

Zakariya Amataya, 35, is a native of Narathiwat’s Bacho district and attended Bangkok’s Islamic College before spending five years in India furthering his study of Islamic sciences, Arabic and literature. On his return to Thailand he pursued comparative religions at Mahidol University.

In India Zakariya discovered his passion for free-verse poetry, and it became for him a potential bridge between cultures and languages.

His first translated book, “Duay-Jit-Winyarn-Aun-Piemsook” (“Happy Soul”), sold few copies, but his poems garnered attention among bloggers, and Zakariya subsequently launched his own community site, wwww.ThaiPoetSociety.com.

His translated writing has been published consistently since 2004 in newspapers and journals. “No Women in Poetry”, which earned him the SEAWrite honour, is a compilation of his poems from the past 10 years.

Zakariya continues his two-year effort to write a novel based on his childhood memories.

BRUNEI

Wijaya is a pen name with much to abbreviate: The writer’s proper, full name is Yang Berhormat Pehin Jawatan Dalam Seri Maharaja Dato Seri Utama Dr Haji Awang Mohd Jamil Al-Sufri bin Begawan Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Seri Paduka Haji Awang Umar.

Nearing 90 years of age, Yang Berhormat Pehin is a prominent figure in education, history, culture and religion, as well as literature, in Brunei Darussalam.

He was trained abroad and has received honorary doctorates in philosophy from the American Institute of Science and in letters from the University of Kebangsaan Malaysia. He was also given Asean’s Culture Award for literature in 1990.

Fluent in English, Japanese and Arabic, Yang Berhormat Pehin took up writing in the 1940s and has produced books in many fields.

“Renungan”, his first anthology of poems, earned him the SEAWrite award.

INDONESIA

Jakarta-born Afrizal Malna, 53, is a poet who has collaborated in many avant-garde arts, including performance.

He has produced seven poetry anthologies, a novel and an anthology of essays, and several of these works have been translated into English.

Malna’s complex and innovative style long ago brought him recognition for “dark” poetry – along with many followers.

LAOS

Under the name Douangchampa, Dara Kanlaya, 72, has written 60 short stories, more than 90 poems, seven novels and a two-hour play. Most are about women’s rights and other gender issues.

The erstwhile schoolteacher began writing in 1958 and was a government translator and editor until 2001. Now retired, she continues to publish novels, poetry and children’s books. She has eight grandchildren.

Dara has been engaged in social work all her life, especially for the benefit of children and women, and meanwhile helps conserve palm-leaf manuscripts and studies classical Lao literature.

MALAYSIA

Zaen Kasturi is the pen name of Zainal Palit, 46, born and educated in Melaka and also schooled in at the universities of Malaya and London.

Gifted in several genres of writing, Palit has won awards before. His works include the short stories of “Yuda”, the poetry collections “Katarsis” and “Iga” and the novel “Angin Belantara”.

He has added his voice to those determined not to let proper literature be ignored or forgotten, and inspires younger writers in the process.

THE PHILIPPINES

Devoted to her craft for 35 years, Marjorie Evasco has seen her poetry and biographies become part of the country’s literature canon. All five of her books have won Manila Critics Circle prizes – “Dreamweavers”, “Ochre Tones”, “Six Women Poets”, “A Life Shaped by Music” and “Ani: The Life and Art of Hermogena Borja Lungay”.

She’s received fellowships and residencies from prestigious institutions including the Rockefeller Foundation Conference and Study Centre in Italy, the University of Iowa and the Hawthornden Castle Retreat in Scotland.

Evasco has participated in poetry and writers’ festivals in Asia and North, Central and South America, and her works in English and Cebuano have been translated into many other languages.

SINGAPORE

Johar Bin Buang, 52, also known by his pseudonym HB Johar, was never formally trained but credits the prayers of his religious teacher, Syekh Muhammad Thaha Al-Muhammadi, for his inspiration to write sufistic poems beginning in the early 1980s.

His first poem, “Ayan Kekasih”, was published in 1984 and was singled out for attention by the renowned poet and critic Djamal Tukimin.

Johar’s 1995 poetry anthology “Perahu” won the Darul Iman III prize sponsored by the Sultanate of Terengganu and two of his poems earned awards: “MRT” was honoured by the Malay Language Council of Singapore and “Program Timur” by Brunei Darussalam.

VIETNAM

Nguyen Nhat Anh, 55, writes incisive stories for both adults and teenagers and has achieved particular success in addressing the latter. The teacher and journalist has published more than 100 books, including 24 novellas, two novel series and several collections of poems.

His best-known novel, the 54-volume “Kinh van hoa” (“Kaleidoscope”), became an elaborate and highly popular television drama series.

Historic moments

The guest speaker at this year’s awards dinner is Cambridge-trained British historian and travel writer William Dalrymple, who happens to be a nephew of Virginia Woolf.

A resident of Delhi for much of the last 25 years, Dalrymple has been The New Statesman’s South Asia correspondent since 2004. He’s written six books, all of which won major literary prizes, as have his radio and television documentaries.

He’s now working on a history of the First Afghan War and organising a New York exhibition of paintings from the late Mughal & Company School.


Published on November 1, 2010

(The Nation)