[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text][/fusion_text][fusion_text]by Maria Mahat
If you think that Singapore lacks writers of the Malay and/or Muslim types that can write well in English and in a genre other than Islamic, well, think again.
I have not read all of these books here, but I do intend to get my hands on them. First and foremost, let me qualify that I do not know almost all of them personally and I cannot testify their Malay-ness or Muslim-ness. But going by their names (or pen names), I assumed thus.
Why am I singling out this group of authors and their selected titles? [ie. Some of these authors have published many books, while for some of them, it’s their debut work.]
Because they wrote in a language (ie. English) that probably made their books appealling and accessible to people outside their kind. Not all voices will speak for us, but sometimes, we need a little big voice that can speak for some of us, right? But of course, these books need not be about us. We are not narcissistic nor attention-seekers. Just want to be heard, and sometimes, hoping to be published for a greater good. And the greater good includes your book being studied, analysed, and criticised by students across the globe as part of world literature. 🙂
These books could be about anything, and everything these authors wish to write about under the sun, behind their own lens, and what their wild and creative imagination could conceive.
Would you pick up one of these titles instead of by a foreign author today?
Would you like Ungu Pen to carry these titles in our store?
Come talk to us.
PS: The last title was just to fill up this space 😛
1. Tweet by Isa Kamari
2. Malay Sketches by Alfian Saat
3. The Gatekeeper by Nuraliah Norasid
4. First Fires by Jinat Rehana Begum
5. Annabelle Thong by Imran Hashim
6. Harris Bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher by Suffian Hakim
7. Anil and other stories by Ridjal Noor
8. The Truth Seekers @ Haji Lane by Maryam Amelie
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Ridjal
HI Maria, thanks for the shoutout and including Anil into this list!
info@ungupen.com
You are most welcome Ridjal. It’s not everyday that a Singapore book gets pick up by the exams board from the UK. Congrats for that!