Silverfish
Writing Programme
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Silverfish
Writing Programme |
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The
date
has been set for the intake of the next Saturday 21th
June 2008 |
 Ever since Silverfish Books started publishing activities in 2001, we
have been continually asked about the next big thing, namely the next
big Malaysian writer. We gave a lot of people hope. While the
Silverfish New Writing series was a tremendous success (and it still is
very popular) it did not bring to the surface the multitudes of
Malaysian writers hiding in the woodwork, waiting for an opportunity to
be discovered and be published. The Silverfish New Writing series
remains a snapshot of Malaysians writing in English, though we have begun to question its relevance in unearthing new authors.The Silverfish Writing Programme is an entirely different initiative, the purpose of which was to give writers an opportunity to not just to get published but, also, guiding and training them. The Programme started in June 2006 and, now, we have the first three writers to actually get their work published. Chua Kok Yee attended the first one, Shih-Li Kow the third, and Rumaizah Abu Bakar the fourth. We are as excited as the writers themselves with this project.  Ten
stories were selected from each writer for this book. (Yes, they all
have many more that they have completed and many more they are still
working on.) Ten stories, we felt, would be a nice number to introduce
each of them to Malaysian readers, each with their own distinct
Malaysian voice, and each with a slightly different story to tell and
way of telling it. These are all writers to look forward to, writers
who are genuinely Malaysian and modern. At the time of writing this,
they are all working on their own 'solo' efforts which they hope to
complete next year.Chua Kok Yee, who is from Ipoh, manages a cosmetic company in his day job, having graduated from the University of Malaya in 1995. He says he doesn't have a life anymore considering how he says he spends all his spare time now reading and writing. Gothic tales of horror, tender love stories or tongue-in-cheek retelling of fairy tales, Chua Kok Yee does it all. Is he our own Murakami? Shih-Li Kow holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and currently works for a property developer to pay her bills. But her passion is writing and is a distinctive stylist who is clever and yet charming. Her work defies categorization. I thought Peach Blossom Luck was a gem until I read Don't Depend on Me, and then A Job to Love, and Pak Hassan's Story, and ... All of them different, all of them little jewels. She makes her point not with a smash-down-your-head sledgehammer style but with deft nicks of a rapier. Rumaizah Abu Bakar describes herself as a Public Relations professional with a degree in Accountancy. Rumaizah is a writer who is all heart, who so obviously loves the people she writes about, whether it is Shanti the hotel room-cleaner, or Chef Chen the highly principled hotel cook, or Aunt Aini who lost in love but never fell out of it, and a host of others. If there is one thing the three writers have in common, it is their dogged determination to succeed and their work ethic. Whenever they failed they tried and tried again, refusing to be discouraged and taking every harsh criticism as a challenge. This volume is the first in, what we hope will be, a series unearthing new generations of writers who can hold their own against the rest of the world, and still remain distinctly Malaysian.News from Home is also the first book to carry the 'Malaysian Literature in English' sticker, a new initiative to promote Malaysian literature within the country and overseas. The SilverfishWriting Programme How many times have we met people who have attended creative writing courses but still can't write? (One story a year or one in ten years does not count.) There is no shortage of creative writing courses, workshops and books in the world teaching: basic storytelling, rules of plots, pace, characters, conflicts, structure, busting writers' block and etc and etc. In other words: lots of mechanical rules and routines. A student, who has registered himself in the hope of learning some of the magic that makes writers tick, comes away disappointed possibly thinking that he is fated never to become a writer and maybe gives up altogether. But, the problem is, long before a student attends a creative writing course, something else has to happen. He has to learn to become a writer first. It is a mysterious process - this becoming a writer. It requires a certain awakening of a writer's instinct inside. Writing can be all consuming. It can happen even when you are nowhere near your writing pad (if you still do longhand) or your computer. It is a temperament, a desire, a feeling, an impulse … and all those things combined. It is both conscious and unconscious. And just as it is not possible to teach someone how to ride a bicycle by theory alone (get on the bike, sit on the saddle, push off, paddle and balance!), the same applies to writing. But once learned it will not be forgotten. The Silverfish Writing Programme is, to a large extent, inspired by Betty Edwards' book on drawing. After reading the book, I wondered for years if writing could be taught by some similar technique. I came to the conclusion that a direct 'conversion' was not possible. That would be like asking a swim coach to teach competitive cycling. But there is one common theme in both writing and drawing: that is learning how to see. If you want to become a writer you must learn how to see just as you will need to if you want to learn how to draw. It is often said that genius cannot be taught. Writing with the Right Side of the Brain programme acknowledges that. Only a certain part of writing can be taught, the rest has to be discovered from inside and dragged out by the individual on his own. Maybe genius cannot be taught, but the magic of writing can. An average person is not one but two: the conscious craftsman who can learn rules and techniques, and the unconscious artist or 'creative writer'. Or, in 'new age' terminology, every individual consists of a left-brain person and a right-brain person. Yin and Yang. Siva and Sakti. Unfortunately, the two sometimes (often?) don't talk to one another. The programme is designed to find the trick to make the sides to work in harmony. In most people years of neglect has made the artistic side a little 'rusty'. The programme is designed to teach you how to discover that creative side and to switch from one mode to the other effortlessly. It will take a little time and practice, but you should feel it even on the very first day. This 10-week writing programme has been designed with the average individual in mind: the average individual who likes to write, who wants to write but keeps running into walls. The most common and crippling of all excuses is: I have no time. I have a full time day job, I have to fetch and ferry my kids, I have no time to write ... "No baby, when you become a writer, there is no time. There is no space, there is no light, and there is no air either. Everything simply stops." (Apologies Charles Bukowski. Please don't turn in your grave.) When your right brain takes over, everything else simply stops. And when that happens, it is pure magic. Discover, experience and rejoice. Just like in learning to ride a bike, the hardest part is the beginning. But whether you become an Olympic Champion is another matter, though there is nothing to stop you from trying. Becoming a writer is a life enriching experience. Learning to write with the right side of the brain is not simply about the buzz. It is also about writing what editors and publishers want. Do you want to become a writer? Give yourself this gift. It will last you a lifetime. But please be prepared to work. (More than 50,000 words during the programme - enough fodder to embark on a novel or a book of short stories.) Drag that genius of yours out from in there. Silverfish will be your personal trainer. The programme Writing with the Right Side of the Brain will consist of one 10-week module targeted at adults who are interested in:. 1. Fiction writing - short stories, novellas and novels 2. Non-fiction writing - travelogues, biographies, narratives and features. A certain competency in the use of the English language will obviously be a prerequisite. (We are not offering online courses for the moment due to our technical limitations.) The programme will be conducted at the premises of Silverfish Books (address below). Do call or email us to inquire about registration and fees. Classes will be limited to a maximum of 8 participants. Although this specific programme is not design for them, educational institutes and corporations interested may contact us (at the same number and email (info@silverfishbooks.com) to inquire about tailor made writing programmes for your needs. Note: Please see box above for course dates and times |
Hi there Raman, Just thought I would let you know that I have thoroughly enjoyed the Writing with the Right Brain course. I felt that you encouraged, rather
than prescribed which was particularly good for our group which was
quite a mature group despite the age of some of the participants;
Hi Raman, Chua Kok Yee I find that the programme was an excellent
opportunity for us to share ideas and peel off our layers of fear. It
was rather daunting to have to read my story aloud but I learnt from
it in more ways than one. I learnt to be more self-critical, to appreciate
the constructive criticisms of others, to see my story from another
viewpoint, and to have a stronger faith in myself too. Yan Lai Peen.
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silverfish books, 58-1 jalan telawi, bangsar baru, 59100 kuala lumpur, malaysia. tel: (603) 2284 4837, fax: (603) 2284 4839 email: sbooks@streamyx.com |
