Listen to tasty words
EDITOR Elaine Chiew brings two of her passions, food and fiction, together in Cooked Up, an anthology of short stories in which food plays an integral thematic role. Chiew firmly believes that food can evoke memories, both good and bad, and tells the story of where we came from or where we want to be.
“Short stories, for me, embody the universal, and there is no better way to celebrate our global diversity than through an exploration of what food means to us culturally and personally,” she says in a quick e-mail note.
Chiew attempts to show this in her collection of 20 short stories – including flash fiction, an essay and a “stoku”, a word coined by Chiew that combines “story” and “haiku” – from writers across the world. Whether funny, sad, nostalgic or provocative, food plays an integral role in all the tales, whether in a personal or cultural context.
The anthology includes the work of renowned writers like Ben Okri ( The Famished Road, Dangerous Love) and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ( Mistress Of Spices). There is also an entry by Chiew herself.
She shares: “There really hasn’t been another literary short story anthology I’ve come across that gathers together a diverse global group of writers that include famous ones like Ben Okri, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Mukoma Wa Ngugi, and many up and coming literary stars such as Krys Lee, Vanessa Gebbie, and Nikesh Shukla that deals with the theme of food, which in many ways has become a global awareness trend in itself.
“The stories in here are varied, but several of them deal with the issue of hunger, as well as how meals – how they are prepared or eaten – can become fraught with political, cultural or personal significance.”
Tomorrow, Chiew will be reading from Cooked Up at Readings@Seksan at Seksan Gallery (No. 67, Jalan Tempinis 1, Lucky Garden, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur); the event runs from 3.30pm to 6pm and includes other author appearances.
Readings@Seksan is a monthly literary event organised by editor, author, and educator Sharon Bakar.