Events

Talk by Dr Emma Dawson

The changing face of global Anglophone writing

From Nigeria to Kenya to India to Malaysia, Anglophone writing is changing. This talk will look at the thesis of being 'beyond the postcolonial' and the changing face of Anglophone writing. Please come along for interesting debate on this topic on Tuesday, 26th Jan 2010, 8.05 pm (after dinner, over coffee) at Silverfish Books, 58-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. The discussion will be led by Dr. Emma Dawson (Keele University, UK)

Bio
Dr Emma Dawson, works at the intersection of postcolonial writing, pedagogy and the emergent field of World Englishes literature. Her recent study addressed the teaching of World Englishes literature in schools in England. As an editor for CCC Press (UK) she is managing a project which is set to publish 8 anthologies of new writing in English from around the world. Cameroon and Nigeria (Nov 2009, Jan 2010) are out, Uganda and Kenya will follow. Malaysia, Singapore, India and a Caribbean nation will be published in 2010/2011.

Call for Submissions (from Malaysian writers):

CCC Press is showcasing new writing in English from around the world in their new series of country anthologies. Anthologies of short stories from Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda are already underway. 'The Spirit Machine' and Other New Short Stories From Cameroon' was published in July 2009 and the Nigerian anthology is due to be published by the end of 2009. The anthologies focus on the production of new writing in English which is newly sourced, edited and presented with a critical introduction. This is a call for the projected collection from Malaysia.

Submission Guidelines For Short Stories
- Word count: 3000 - 8000 words
- There is no theme, only 'Malaysia'.
- This is adult fiction (in the sense that it is not 'children's fiction').
- The work must be written in English (i.e. not translated from another language) and must be written by a resident of Malaysia (this is not a collection of diaspora writing).
- The story must be 'new' in the sense that it is 'unpublished in book form' - this makes life much easier in terms of 'rights'. (We can accept submissions which have been previously published in magazines if necessary.)
- Please send submissions by email to worldlits@googlemail.com, attached as a Microsoft Word document (saved as a 1997-2003 version please) and formatted as follows


- Maximum of two entries per person please.
- Please submit by January 31st 2010 (The closing date has been extended to 28 February 2010)

Dr Emma Dawson
Series Editor
World Englishes Literature
CCC Press
www.cccpress.co.uk
email: worldlits@googlemail.com
share this:

A book event: Planter Upriver by Mahbob Abdullah at 5.00pm on Saturday, 19th of December, 2009 at Silverfish Books, 58-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 228 448 37 Email: info@silverfishbooks.com. Admission: Free
share this:

Launch of qur'an and cricket: Travels through the madrasahs of Asia and other stories the latest book by Farish A Noor, Malaysia's leading public intellectual, at 7.00pm on Friday, 6th November, 2009 at Silverfish Books, 58-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 448 449 37 Email: info@silverfishbooks.com. Admission: Free

Here is an excerpt from the book:

However, in the course of the same research I have also visited some rather dodgy institutions that can hardly be called madrasahs. Once in Pakistan I had to interview some students while in the corner of the room played a videotape of the gruesome murder and decapitation of the American journalist Daniel Pearl. The boys I was speaking to were between seven to ten years of age, and were smiling and laughing -- while others lay asleep. I tried to look away as long as I could, resisting the urge to puke.


Farish A Noor, academic, activist, traveller extraordinaire, visits, lives and interviews students (and others) in 'jihad factory' madrasahs (Islamic seminaries) from Patani to Pakistan and from Kashmir to Cairo, and comes away dazed and confused. In attempting to make sense of it all, he ends up confronting his own demons and nightmares.

This is a book that only Farish A Noor will attempt and can write. He visits locations we would like to avoid even in our worst nightmares. Although he writes with his sense of humour firmly in place throughout, that does not obscure the seriousness of the subject. Is the world ready for some truth?

Also launched on that day will be set of six postcards with photographs and drawings by Farish A Noor. You may view them here: http://www.silverfishbooks.com/slideshow/farishpostcards/farishpostcards.html

Note: Photo caption: The author on his last day of fieldwork, Central Java, May 2008
share this:

NEW MEXICAN NARRATIVES. A TALE WITHOUT END...

A dialogue with Pedro Angel PALOU at Silverfish Books, 58-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur on October 14, 2009 at 18.00 hours. Admission is free.

Since its origins in the sixteenth century, Mexican literature has been a significant component of Western literature. All along the Colonial period, Mexican writers were a key element in the development of Spanish imagination and creatitivity. After Independence two hundred years ago, they struggled to creatively contribute in building up a national identity within the Modern world. The Revolution of 1910 strengthened this commitment and generated a vital nationalistic literature.

Today Mexican writers consider themselves universal novelists, deeply involved in the crisis of globalization. The fact that Mexico is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world and a neighbor and major partner of the United States reflects itself in a vibrant and highly competitive literary environment.

New topics to attract Latin American readers, strategies to penetrate global markets, the complex interrelation with massmedia and Internet are among the issues and challenges faced by contemporary Mexican novelists.

Pedro Angel PALOU (Puebla, Mexico 1966) is a reknown novelist and thinker, author of 33 books. As a leading Mexican intellectual, he has been Minister of Culture at his home state of Puebla and President of a prestigious private university, The University of the Americas, as well as recipient of several national and international awards.

PALOU is an anchorman for Mexico's public television (Channel 22) and for the American broadcaster History Channel. He also enjoys a reputation as a futbol referee and a sophisticated chef. His visit to Malaysia is sponsored by the 2009 International Cooperation Program of Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

share this:

Yes, it has been ten years already since Silverfish Books first opened in Desa Seri Hartamas. We made a lot of friends, offended some, published over 30 books, organised two International Literary Festivals and many readings and book launches, had a few battles, won some, lost some, still fighting others, and we hope we made a small dent in the Malaysian literary world. So we are organising our tenth birthday party on Saturday 27th June 2009.

Farish Noor, Dina Zaman, Rumaizah Abu Bakar, Shih-Li Kow, Chua Kok Yee, Robert Raymer, Salleh ben Joned, are Silverfish authors who have confirmed will be there. Huzir Sulaiman, Antares and Ganese Jaganathan are definite maybes. A surprise for the evening will be Addeline Lee, who at 18 is the youngest Silverfish author to date. He book Lethal Lesson and other stories will be released on the day.

share this:

Tash Aw, who will be in Kuala Lumpur in the first week of next month to launch his new book, Map of the Invisible World, in Malaysia is scheduled for a reading at  Silverfish Books on Sunday, 7th of June 2009 from 11.30am to 1.00pm. This event is a result of a request from Tash Aw who has specifically asked to read at Silverfish Books because he likes the type of people who come here, particularly those who will read his book and ask intelligent questions about it, not just about how much money he makes. So, do try and read his book book before you come so as not to let the side down. BTW  both the  hardback (RM85.00)  and  paperback (RM64.90) editions are now available in major bookstores.

I have, so far, only read three chapters, but I am already impressed by his steady, confident, no-drama style of prose. He's getting more and more like Ishiguro. I will ask him about it after his reading, during discussion period.
share this:

In a session called Anatomizing the colonised mind: reading and discussion of Echoes of Silence, the author, Chuah Guat Eng, will read from her novel on Saturday, 23 May at Silverfish Books, 58-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 228 448 37) at 5.00pm.

Echoes of Silence is the first full-length novel in English by a Malaysian woman. Critically acclaimed when it first appeared in 1994, it has been enjoyed by general readers, and studied by students and scholars of postcolonial literature in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Echoes is a multi-faceted novel, which can be enjoyed at several levels. Although it is written in the first person, the novel is not autobiographical. And although there is a murder and murder investigation, it is not simply a detective thriller. For the reading Chuah will focus on excerpts illustrating the novel's exploration of the colonised mind. "In March 1970, as a direct result of the May 1969 racial riots, I left Malaysia." -- So begins the story of Lim Ai Lian, a Chinese Malaysian.

Besides Echoes of Silence, Chuah's other published literary works are Tales from the Baram River (2001), a collection of Sarawak folktales retold for children, and The Old House and Other Stories (2008), a collection of short stories written and published in various publications and anthologies between 1992 and 2002. She works part-time as a corporate communications consultant and occasionally runs lecture courses at universities.

Admission is free but seats will be on first-come-first-served basis.

share this: