Fan: I initiated Kalam with a few like-minded members of the literary community of KL, after being invited by Think City to put together a literary weekend as part of the festival (Photo: Pauline Fan)
The Kreatif KL Festival takes a literary turn from Nov 1 to 3 with Kalam – Confluence of Writers & Ideas, a community-driven event that will explore the evolving landscapes of writing and unwritten narratives of the city, country and region.
Kalam is curated by Pauline Fan, who brings together more than 40 speakers from nine countries for 27 programmes that will take place mainly at Muzium Telekom. There will be book launches at Riwayat Bookstore and a café, as well as an exhibition at a bakery.
“I initiated Kalam with a few like-minded members of the literary community of KL, after being invited by Think City to put together a literary weekend as part of the festival,” Fan says.
“I then brought two more curators on board, poet and founder of Svara journal Hafiz Hamzah and Riwayat bookstore proprietor Roestam Alias. Everyone involved is an integral part of Malaysia’s literary community, from the curators to our programme partners, such as PEN Malaysia, Han Culture Centre, Goethe Institute and Inisiatif Buku Darul Ehsan.
She explains the naming of the event: “Kalam is an old Malay word, rooted in an Arabic term, for writing tool. It also refers to the art of writing and knowledge. It contains the letters K and L, as well as the word alam, meaning world, universe, realm, nature. That captures the sense of KL being a microcosm of writers, ideas, languages and culture.
“The city has a vibrant, diverse and dynamic community of writers, but does not have its own international literary festival. We hope Kalam will grow into a KL literary fest in the years to come.”
The first gathering this weekend augurs well for that, with humour, satire, history, art, culture, fiction and celebration on its diverse line-up.
Fans can find out what makes Malaysian cartoonist Lat (Datuk Mohd Nor Khalid) tick at his talk on A Life in Lines and Laughter. On a more solemn note, Semai author Akiya and writer cum illustrator Jason S Ganesan will discuss Hamba, the former’s 2013 book on the country’s slave history, translated into English by the latter.
For a visual treat, visit Clarice Lispector’s The Hour of the Star of Brazilian Literature at Bartolo Lisboa Bakehouse, Central Market. For those who fancy chewing on words, Dina Zaman’s Malayland, launching at Mountbatten Café, should offer food for thought.
Conversations with writers often reveal the thoughts and ideas behind their work. Get up close with 83-year-old Indonesian essayist and poet Goenawan Mohamad, founder and editor of Tempo magazine; Filipino Marga Ortigas, who moved from the frontlines to fiction; Cambodian spoken work poet Kosal Khiev; and Singaporean novelist Jo-Ann Yeoh.
Local voices will be heard at Kalam, including that of four young Malaysian “perempuan sajak” — Syaheeda Hamdani, Siti Alimah, Natasha Aziz and Qurratul ‘Ain – Sabahan writer Ruhani Matdarin and Mahua author Ho Sok Fong, as will international publishers Minh Bui and Naveen Kishore.
Old books will be “resurrected” at two sessions helmed by Buku Fixi founder Amir Muhammad. The first is the launch of Patah Sayap Terbang Jua and Tembok Tidak Tinggi by Abdul Samad Ismail (1924-2008). The late newsman was the first Malaysian to receive Magsaysay award for journalism, literature and creative communication arts in 1994, considered Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
“We are happy to publish two more books by a writer I consider to be more entertaining than any Sasterawan Negara,” Amir says. “Amazingly, all of Pak Samad’s creative work has been out of print for decades, so this is a good chance to introduce them to new readers. Thank you to Nuraina Samad and her family for granting permission and being so sporting!”
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Another long out-of-print title, Abdullah Hussain’s Kuala Lumpur Kita Punya, is the focus of Amir’s talk titled “Whose KL is it Anyway? Reflections on a Controversial Malay Novel from 1967”.
The book, about the libidinous exploits of four young bachelors, was an immediate bestseller when released, but it was accused of obscenity. A literary association even convened a panel to criticise it. “Reading it now, what does it say about life in KL in the 1960s?”
The novel has not been reprinted in decades, despite the fact that Abdullah (1920-2014) was declared a Sasterawan Negera, in 1996, adds Amir, who will explore what it represents, especially the city’s geography, socio-economic situation, gender and even race relations.
Maya Press will bring out academic cum novelist K S Maniam’s last book, The Cry, completed before his passing in February 2020. Local authors Shih-Li Kow and Malachi Edwin Vethamani will discuss the process of putting it together and their thoughts on it.
Mengingat Pyan, a special event to remember Pyanhabib and celebrate his work, will involve Zurina Zakariya, Najihah Mohd Supyan, Api Husein, Petak Daud, Siti Alimah, Noor Azam Shairi and Jack Malik. The poet cum actor died in June this year, leaving deep footprints as part of the Anak Alam group founded in the 1970s, and in film, particularly for his role as Osman Tikus in Nasir Jani’s Kembara Seniman Jalanan.
Kalam is presented by Think City and DBKL, with support from the Ministry of Finance, and partners such Goethe-Institut Malaysia, the Embassy of Brazil in Malaysia, Han Culture Centre, PEN Malaysia, Inisiatif Buku Darul Ehsan and Hikayat Fandom.
See here for more info.
