Places to write about
Spaces, places and the in-betweens can pop up in writing in different and unexpected ways.
IMAGINE this. The beautiful countryside of central Mongolia, with you – the reader – sitting atop a cloth saddle on a small white horse. The view is stunning, with a running river and a majestic waterfall; everything is fine, except for the fact that this is the first time you’ve ever tried riding and your horse is hurtling towards the edge of a cliff.
Now, imagine something different. An island, staring at the horizon of the sea, where a vibration is felt through the soil but nothing moves. One more. The very familiar first Penang Bridge, that thousands of people cross every day.
You, however, are not in or on top of any motorised vehicle. Instead, you’re riding a bicycle furiously (and illegally) from island to mainland, trying your best not to perish by either drowning or a tragic road accident.
These were the scenarios retold during the recently-held George Town Literary Festival 2014 in Penang, where readers were invited to explore the relationship between words and spaces through a panel discussion entitled A Sense Of Place.
Italian travel writer Marco Ferrarese, who has seen his fair share of places while journeying across 50 countries in his 34 years, said writing and travelling do not necessarily start from the same place.
“I like to write, and I write about what I know because you cannot really write about what you don’t know.
“The travelling doesn’t really start from the writing. These days, people think that to write about travel is to write about the experience of getting there, staying there, the hotels and so on,” said Ferrarese, who experienced the unfortunate but ultimately non-fatal ride with the horse above. “I believe there are so many levels to travel writing and explaining a point of view.”
Ferrarese, who first travelled as a rock musician and currently plays with local Malaysian punk band WEOT SKAM, said his best writing comes from discovering different perspectives in the places he finds himself in.
“I want to see the world and I find stories from different places. You have to be adventurous enough to go and look for those un- or misrepresented places and spaces, and then, you must write in the most comprehensive way to try and give a sense of that place you are in.”
Singaporean Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh, who took an hour to cross the 13.5km first Penang Bridge on bicycle, said the opportunity to experience one of Malaysia’s architectural wonders up close was too good to pass up.
“Most of you probably know that it is illegal to cycle on the Penang Bridge. That wasn’t the first time I’ve broken Malaysian traffic laws, and I’m quite sure it won’t be the last,” he said to chuckles from the audience.
The 37-year-old’s bridge escapade was part of a month-long cycling journey around Malaysia in 2004, chronicled in his book
Floating On A Malayan Breeze. Part of experiencing places and writing about them, he said, is getting access to them in the first place.
“What I found quite interesting is that a bicycle gives you a lot of access to people, and rural areas where they may not ordinarily speak to you as freely if you rolled up in a car.”
He added that travel writing in the present day was becoming greatly shaped by technological advances.
“You now have a readership that is much more aware of what a Buddhist temple or a multi-storey Hindu temple or the Penang Bridge looks like.
“So, as opposed to 10 to 15 years ago, there is much more of a need today for travel writers to talk about experience and human interactions, as opposed to the physical architecture or aesthetics,” he said.
For Shivani Sivagurunathan, 33, places are central to her writing, though she rarely travels far for inspiration.
“I think writing is a lot about reinventing stale perceptions and looking at them clearly. There are stories everywhere and personally, I find where I am fascinating. Every day, I’m exposed to new facets of being in Malaysia and for me, that’s enough,” said Shivani.
The Cyberjaya resident, who talked about her debut publication Wildlife On Coal Island, said the fictional island was a reimagining of the scenic Port Dickson.
“It was inevitable that the island itself became a character. I believe that you contribute to a place as much as a place contributes to you. The trick in writing is negotiating the relationship between your internal and external, and to create a marriage between the imagination and memory.”