Getting together for books
The George Town Literary Festival, Malaysia’s largest international literary event, returns this month with over 20 countries participating.
THERE is a certain buzz about the upcoming George Town Literary Festival (GTLF) in Penang that will get book lovers excited.
A notable list of names in world literature will be appearing, including 2019 International Booker Prize-winning author Jokha Alharti, Uzbek author and 2019 EBRD Literature Prize winner Hamid Ismailov, Tamil writer and poet Perumal Morgan, Japanese poet Hiromi Ito, American essayist and intellectual Eliot Weinberger, Indonesian literary icons Goenawan Mohamad and Sapardi Djoko Damano, Dijboutian-french author Abdourahman Waberi, contemporary Chinese poet Xi Chuan, and historian on modern China Rebecca E. Karl.
(EBRD stands for the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, which awards cultural prizes.)
On the home front, the list includes Commonwealth Short Story Prize Asian region winner Saras Manickam, Taiwanbased Malaysian author and educator Ng Kim Chew, filmmaker and writer Nam Ron, novelist Hanna Alkaf, author/former GTLF director Bernice Chauly and Iban poet, singer-songwriter and cultural activist Kulleh Grasi.
Whether you’re a casual reader or a serious literature enthusiast, there’s definitely a lot to look forward to at this year’s GTLF, which starts on Nov 21. The biggest literary festival in the country returns for its ninth year with four days of literary and cultural talks, workshops and events.
Not to forget film screenings, food talks and a poetry marathon.
Last year, GTLF attracted a crowd of 6,000, which is ample proof that literary events can be popular.
“Malaysia is a very complex place, linguistically and in terms of literature. So we want the GTLF to be a place where people can come to explore the various dimensions of Malaysian literature in all it’s forms,” says Pauline Fan, who is the co-director of GTLF 2019, alongside Sharaad Kuttan.
Fan is a writer, translator and creative director at cultural outfit Pusaka, while Sharaad is a talk show host and curator.
There are several book and culture events to keep festivalgoers busy. Make that 13 book launches!
The festival takes place at eight main venues, namely UAB Building, Black Kettle, Hikayat, and select venues across the Unesco World Heritage Site of George Town.
On Nov 23 at Hikayat, local publisher Matahari Books and the Embassy of France will collaborate on the book launch of What I Saw In Malaysia: Lectures 1934-1938 by Jeanne Cuisinier.
The core of What I Saw In Malaya isa series of Radio Paris lectures by French ethnologist Cuisinier on her experience of living in Malaya, principally in Kelantan, in the early 1930s. She candidly and affectionately talks about the people, customs, culture and of course, food. Some of the things described can no longer be seen today, such as her vivid account of a large-scale, all-night wayang kulit performance that attracted a crowd from all over.
Tell Me, Kenyalang, a multilingual collection of poems by Kulleh Grasi, will be launched on Nov 22 at Black Kettle, while author Hafiz Hamzah’s Malay poetry works will be translated into English in Blooms Of Ire, which will be launched on Nov 24 at Hikayat.
Ronggeng-ronggeng Malaysian Short Stories collects six decades of Malaysian works from authors such as Lee Kok Liang, KS Maniam, Tunku Halim and Saras Manickam. This eye-catching anthology, edited
by Malachi Edwin Vethamani, will be launched at Black Kettle on Nov 23.
Those concerned about the environment can make their way to What Makes Greta T. Angry? (Nov 23, UAB Building), which references the young climate activist Greta Thunberg’s impact. Moderated by Chris Parry, it will feature Darrel Mcleod, Long Litt Woon and Julie Janson discussing the topic of “ecological pessimism”.
Alternatively, you can check out Is The Screen Our Enemy? (Nov 23, UAB Building), where Dhinesha Karthigesu, Lur Alghurabi, Karoline Kan and Jason Erik Lundberg and moderator Tiwin Aji discuss new ways of telling stories through technology.
“I am really excited to return as a speaker and featured writer after attending for the first time last year and competing in the National Poetry Slam,” says poet and writer Dhinesha.
“I think a lot of us writers struggle with the title of ‘writer’, it feels so heavy or it feels like we don’t deserve it. And then you get an invite to attend a literary festival like GTLF and suddenly you feel like you can actually pat yourself on the back and say, ‘Hey, I am a writer and other people think so too.”
“George Town Lit Fest always gives me a buzz. I’ve been attending for the past few years and the atmosphere – books and more books, writers, book lovers, the discussions, ideas – I love it. And the range of panels and workshops. Plus of course, George Town itself provides a quaint yet accessible setting,” says writer Saras Manickam, who will appear in the GTLF Conversations series on Nov 22.
New festival team, new direction
This year, the festival sees a fresh team at the helm, with Fan and Sharaad taking over from former GTLF director Bernice Chauly.
Both have been involved with GTLF through the years. Sharaad has been a moderator at the festival since it began, while Fan has served in various roles, including co-curator, speaker and moderator. The two are organising the festival alongside Deric Ee and Swarna Rajagopal.
Fan admits it has been an exciting and exhausting experience putting together this festival.
“All the writers we’ve contacted have been enthusiastic about coming. And we’re really glad to be able to bring a really strong line-up to this year’s festival,” says Fan.
A total of 80 participants from over 20 countries will be involved across more than 80 events at GTLF 2019.
The theme of this year’s festival is “forewords/afterwords”, which explores themes of beginnings and transitions, with a strong emphasis on history.
This theme is fitting for this year, says Fan said, as 2019 has been the anniversary of many historical events, including the centenary of World War I and the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago.
This year also marked 50 years since the Malaysian race riots of May 13, 1969. GTLF will see a panel (on Nov 24) examining this dark moment in Malaysian history through local literature. It will feature Hanna Alkaf, whose debut novel The Weight Of Our Sky was set during that period, writer Ho Sok Fong and economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
Fan reveals that there will be a few changes to the usual format of the festival this year. There will be a lecture on each of the festival’s four days; last year saw only saw one lecture throughout. The first day’s lecture is on literary translation. A lecture in Bahasa Indonesia about poetry by writer and journalist Goenawan Mohamad takes place the next day. The third day’s lecture is on literature and history by Rebecca E. Karl, and the fourth day’s lecture is on world literature by Eliot Weinberger.
“The GTLF team wanted to diversify the formats of engagement. We have quite a few panel discussions, but we also have more one-on-one conversations this year, about eight of them. These one-on-one conversations are to give a more intimate understanding of and look at the work of a particular author,” says Fan.
“For the lectures, I think we wanted to have an occasion to give a little more intellectual engagement. So that people could feel that they can learn something, quite substantially, from the GTLF.
“The people delivering the lectures are all experts in their field, and I think it’s a great opportunity,” she adds.
A broader Malay programme
Another change is an expanded Malay programme this year. GTLF 2019 will roll out seven Malay language panels, in contrast to previously having three or four. One highlight is a panel called Loghat Dan Karya (UAB Building, Nov 24) with actordirectors Nam Ron and Sabri Yunos about the use of dialects in the creation of their work, something both of them are known for.
Ada Apa Dengan Kisah, a discussion on crafting stories, takes place at the same venue on Nov 23.
Additionally, the festival will be looking at Mahua literature (Malaysian-chinese literature, written in Mandarin).
“A lot of interesting things are going on in this field. I think a lot of the English- and Malay-speaking writers here don’t really have that much knowledge of what this scene is up to. But, meanwhile, Mahua writers have been making a big impact, and are highly regarded, winning prizes in Taiwan,” says Fan.
According to Fan, what has made the GTLF stand out is how it champions the right to freedom of expression and the way it offers a sense of real intimacy.
“Some bigger festivals are a little more commercialised. And they tend to keep the big stars separate from all the rest! They may get a real literary star, but how accessible is that person from an actual conversation? Not just with the audience but also the other writers,” she says.
“I think at GTLF, we also make space for writers to talk and meet with each other. They’re not just taken from one place to another, for back to back sessions without time to talk. Because one of the most exciting things about this (fest) are the conversations that happen off the stage.”
First established in 2011, the GTLF is an international literary festival celebrating world literature, translations and the literary arts, held annually in George Town. Initiated by the Penang state government, it is a mostly free festival with the exception of workshops.
In 2018, the GTLF won the International Excellence Awards 2018 for Literary Festival award. The George Town Literary Festival will be held at various venues in George Town from Nov 21 to 24. More info: georgetownlitfest.com.