Inspector Singh in Cambodia ... and then India!

Congrats once again to the highly prolific Shamini Flint who now has a further two book deal with Little Brown, bringing the number of Asian adventures featuring Inspector Singh to five!

Singh has already annoyed the other policemen in Malaysia , Bali and Singapore . Now our favourite inspector will be flying off to the killing fields of Cambodia ...

reads the publicity info I received today :

Inspector Singh is in Cambodia – wishing he wasn't. He's been sent as an observer to the international war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, the latest effort by his superiors to ensure that he is anywhere except in Singapore. But for the first time the fat Sikh inspector is on the verge of losing his appetite when a key member of the tribunal is murdered in cold blood. The authorities are determined to write off the incident as a random act of violence, but Singh thinks otherwise. It isn't long before he finds himself caught up in one of the most terrible murder investigations he’s witnessed – the roots of which lie in the Cambodian killing fields… And in Book 5 he’ll be whizzing off to India ... The Guardian says about this series that ‘It’s impossible to not warm to the sweating, dishevelled, wheezing Inspector Singh’ and the Daily Record that Singh is ‘An unconventional new crime hero who has the potential to be as compelling (and successful) as McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe.‘

Meanwhile the second volume of the series, A Bali Conspiracy So Foul, is hitting the stores here. It was launched at the Ubud writers' and Readers Festival, and will have another launch at the Singapore Writers Festival. Volume 3, Inspector Singh Investigates: A Singapore School of Villainy, is due out next February. Worth reading - Adrian Turpin in The Financial Times considers Shamini's first novel alongside other writing he feels are in the mould of Alexander McCall Smiths novels featuring Precious Rabotswe.

Crime Pays for Shamini

... crime fiction is a great prism through which to explore the tensions within modern Asian society because it is inevitably about conflict—and the starting point is, of course, murder. The genre allows for the interaction between people of different social stratas, race and religion to be explored at length. I find the idea of reflecting contemporary Asian society in crime writing exhilarating. From racial and religious divides in Malaysia (Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder), terrorism and social dysfunction in Bali (Inspector Singh Investigates: A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul, due in September 2009), to greed and exploitation in Singapore (Inspector Singh Investigates: A Singapore School of Villainy, due in February 2010), there are the plots for a dozen novels in any Asian country. I certainly hope that more Asian writers will turn to crime fiction writing!

In an essay up on Eric's blog and written for the Singapore Writers Festival version of MPH's Quill magazine, Sharmini Flint asks why there is no real crime writing tradition in Asia ... and why the region actually lends itself to the genre.‘

On Beauty and Other Saturday Stories

Big apologies for the delay in putting up the pictures of July Saturday's Readings@Seksan, a very enjoyable and well attended event with some great readers. (I could offer you miserable excuses, but won't.)


Jac SM Kee who describes herself as "a feminist activist, agitator, writer & researcher" in the newly published Malaysian Essays 2 read from her contribution to the book : Boundary Monsters in a Time of Magic - we all enjoyed the intelligence and humour of this very well-written piece. (You can watch her interview on The Fairly Current Show.)

Also talking about body image was Yvonne Lee who read for us from her book of essays about women's relationship to their looks - Vanity Drive. The book deals with such topics as relationship with luxurious lingerie, that first white hair, help my handbag looks like a warzone would you go with makeup - things we women can all relate to, written in a refreshingly honest and entertaining way.

Yvonne is also the author of The Sky is Crazy : Tales from a Trolley Dolly - a hilarious collection of pieces about life in the air - I found it laugh out loud funny and wished that I had had it at the time that I was teaching cabin crew for Malaysian Airlines.

Dipika Mukherjee's name may already to familiar to many of you. She was the editor of The Merlion and The Hibiscus, the collection of Malaysian and Singaporean short stories published by Penguin in 2002, and she also edited Silverfish New Writing 6. She had just heard that her novel has been longlisted for the Man Asia Literary Prize, and so got a big cheer for that.

But today we encountered Dipika the (very widely published) poet reading from her beautifully produced chapbook The Palimpest of Exile which examines what it means to belong to many places, and the ways in which we find home.

And of course we had to have the delightful Shamini Flint back again since she lights up the room with her warmth and humour every time she reads. The last time she took part in readings she wasn't able to read from the first of her her Inspector Singh novels to be published by Little Brown . Today she was able to make up for that - and what fun it was to see Malaysia through the eyes of her bumbling protagonist. And for good measure she gave us another extract from her Young Adults novel Ten.


Ipoh-born Paul Gnanaselvam was one of the writers featured in MPH's Urban Odysseys and now teaches English at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kampar, Perak. (I'm quite humbled that he made the journey all the way down for this event.) He read from his story Char Kuay Teow Satu, very nicely evocative about the way that the city has changed. I do hope we hear more from him.


And finally, we heard from a new writer, Amir Sharippudin, whose piece Blue, Black and White: How I Survived National Service appears in New Malaysian Essays 2 and gave us a very well observed insider's view of the whole thing.

Once again my thanks to all who read, to all who came (including from the UK my friends Rob and Elaine), to Seksan for his beautiful space and to the friends who helped set up and clear away.

Our next Readings will be in September after Hari Raya (because it would be no fun for those fasting during puasa, and I wouldn't want to hold it without them). We may also be holding it in a new venue, so watch this blog and the Facebook page for details.

Inspector Singh Investigates KL

Good writing comes from extensive reading, organised thinking and a willingness to take huge amounts of rejection and criticism on the chin. I think courses, etc., can teach a few skills and develop the confidence of the writer, but the only sure way of developing a unique voice and finding a story to tell is to try and try again—at home, in private, behind closed doors and for long concentrated periods at a time! The real problem is that we do not bring up our children to read and we disdain any subject that is not examinable. I believe that writers emerge from dynamic civil societies where ideas are being exchanged and explored—not from a vacuum!

Eric Forbes has an interview with Shamini Flint up on his blog.

The Malaysian launch of Inspector Singh Investigates will take place 4:30 - 6:30pm on Sunday, July 19 at Alexis (upstairs in the Sino bar), 29a Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, KL. Please RSVP via Facebook or contact Shamini directly at shamini@shaminiflint.com.

Postscript :

Here's another invite for you, just come in. (Click up to size.) :

Inspector Singh in Tescos

I'm putting up some of the more literary pictures from my U.K. trip. Shamini Flint asked me to keep an eye out for her novel in Tescos and elsewhere. Here it is on special offer in the harrow branch of Tescos, and at number 7 in their hit parade. (I think the garland of dishwashing brushes is a nice touch - shows just how accessible books are to shoppers.)

Sadly the copy I bought had pages wrongly numbered. Page 42 faced page 213. So I wasn't very far in and had to return it. But I couldn't get a replacement copy because they had sold out. Good sign.

I also saw it in the local Waterstones where the copies were all just fine. Other friends have reported sightings across the UK.

Inspector Singh Invades the UK

Shamini Flint has the happiest of happy news to impart.

Not only is Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder out this Thursday in the UK, and available in Waterstones (for £6.99) , it has also been selected to be the Daily Telegraph Recommended Book of the Week! This means that it can be bought for just £2.99 with the paper at 750 Tesco stores!

Shamini has asked her friends to pass on the word to all those living in the UK to rush out and buy dozens. She promises to remember you all when she's famous.

Biggest congrats!

Children's Books with a Malaysian Flavour?

Daphne Lee in today's Starmag highlights the dearth of local children's literature that reflects Malaysian society :

... Our children and teenagers are immersed in American and, to a lesser degree, British pop culture. ... This includes the books they read. Currently popular titles (the Twilight series, the Harry Potter books, Eragon, Wicked Lovely) may not be set in this world, and their characters may not even be human, but the cultural traditions used as references in the creation of these worlds and characters are obviously American and European.

She also reckons that writing children's book is somehow:

... looked down upon by Malaysia’s literati ...

who are more interested in trying to win Booker prizes and the like.

this isn't entirely true of course. We had Shirley Lim's Princess Shawl last year, Tinling Choong's Yuyu and the Banyan Tree will be out this year, and Shamini Flint has been writing some really excllent kids books, the latest of which is the highly readable Ten.

But there certainly could be more ... although I think it really can't happen without the active support all the way of the local publishing industry.

Caught Live by Amir

I couldn't get to the readings Bernice organised at No Black Tie last Sunday so am thrilled to bits that Amir Muhammad took the trouble to video some of the performances. Those who haven't been able to get to the live events in KL or who live further afield (or overseas!) should enjoy these little tastes of Malaysian lit :



Bernice reads from her mini-book of short stories Lost in KL.



Preeta reads the (one and only) sex scene from Evening is the Whole Day.


Danny Lim reads for his Malaysian Book of the Undead.

Postscript :

You can see more videos of the event (of Shamini Flint,Dina Zaman and Fahmi Fadzil reading Sufian Abas) on Facebook. Gazillion thanks, Amir!

Personal Meets the Historical, Authors Meet Audience

We were in celebratory mood at Readings@Seksan on Saturday. We had three authors fresh from the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival, a gaggle of poets (right collective noun?) launching their first collection, great music from Singer songwriter Reza Salleh, books to give away thanks to the kindness of Pansing and MPH, lovely cakes baked by Just Heavenly! (Chet's idea) and an audience of beautiful people. (Far right is fantasy writer Glenda Larke, whom I must persuade to come and read for us soon!).

Shamini Flint has won a three book publishing deal with Little Brown for her crime thrillers but today she read to us from two of her children's books The Seeds of Time (which she launched in Ubud) and Ten about a football mad girl witnessing the break-up of her parent's marriage.

Singer-songwriter Reza Salleh gave us a set of songs before the interval which added wonderfully to the festive atmosphere.

The after a break for chat and delicious cake, with much bookselling going on thanks to MPH and authors who brought their own books along, we had our lucky drawer for brand new books with 11 lucky winners!

Preeta Samarasan read from Evening is the Whole Day. The last time she appeared at Seksan's was before the book was published - this time, many of us had read the book and could enjoy her reading from it even more. I was a bit naughty and asked Preeta to read from her most controversial chapter, with Truth and Rumour dancing in the streets on May 13th. It was a section that made me gasp when I first read it because it says the kinds of things folks are afraid to say out loud in Malaysia.

The personal also echoed the historical in the extract Man Asia Prize longlisted Chiew-Siah Tei read from Little Hut of Leaping Fishes where Mingxi's wife dies in childbirth and the reform movement is also still born. Although set in China, this novel illustrates the forces that drove many Chinese (including Chiew-Siah's ancestors) to the Malay peninsula. We really look forward to the next two novels in her trilogy.

Can I just shout from the rooftop how wonderful it was to have these authors here and to celebrate their successes? YAY!!

Lansell didn't make it to this Readings but don't worry, I will not let him off so easily.

Nothing happens without our lovely supportive audience. I was so surprised to see Kadek Kris, one of the organisers of the Ubud Writers Festival. You can see Bernice in the white shirt in the background with her two beautiful daughters, and Na'a Murad (actor and Jit's little brother).

Apologies to the folks I stared through glassy eyed ... I am a bit incoherant sometimes when I'm worrying about everything it's possible to worry about. Jane Sunshine, why didn't I give you a big hug?

Many thanks to Seksan for use of his beautiful space and to my friends who keep me calm and help me set up everything quickly and efficently and then quietly clear up afterwards - Chet, leon, Eugene, Saabdev - very many thanks. Thanks too to Eric and MPH.

Shamini Saves the Planet

Shamini Flint is interviewed by Vennilla Rajaguru the Jakarta Post and is pictured here (in a nice Balinese setting) with some of her children's picture books. She talks about her route to publishing, her fascination with modern Asia and her desire to teach children responsibility for the environment through her writing.

She's also rather intriguingly written a book called How to Win a Nobel Prize: A Stay-at-Home Mum's Guide ... and knowing the guts and determination of this lady I wouldn't put anything past her.

Don't forget that you can meet her at Seksan's on Saturday afternoon.

Bali Photos (1)

Here are some of my photos from Ubud. More to come. Sorry they are not great.

Am also trying to snaffle a few from friends who took pics on my behalf when my camera went walkies for two days.

Egyptian novelist, and one of the most respected writers in the Arab world, Bahaa Taher, was one of the big names at the festival. Bahaa won the Booker Prize for Arabic fiction earlier this year. (Do read Maya Jaggi's article about him in the Guardian.)

Chinese author Lijia Zhang worked for 10 years in a factory producing intercontinental ballistic missiles is Nanjing before becoming a journalist and writer. Her first book carries the ironic title Socialism is Great! (Read an extract on the New York Times website.) I have great hopes to coax this lady to KL!

Our Preeta paying gazillions of rupiah for a book.

Chiew-Siah with Chris Hanley (one of the founders of the Byron Bay Festival in Australia) who moderated the session called A Long Way From Home.

Shamini Flint launched her latest novel for children, The Seeds of Time about two children's quest to save the planet. All I remember of the event was the extremely potent cocktail made from local hooch. (If the picture is wobbly, you know the reason!).

Busy Preeta

Preeta Samarasan will be back in KL following the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and will have a very busy schedule.

On 24th October she will be on NTV7's The Breakfast Show which begins at 8 a.m. and then at 7.30pm there's An Evening with Preeta at MPH 1 Utama. (This is a by invitation event for MPH members plus media friends.)

You can also catch her on Saturday 25th October at MPH's Breakfast Club (11.30-1) and then at Seksan's at 3.30* (Other guests lined up are Sharmini Flint and singer-songwriter Reza Salleh so it's going to be a great event!! Yay!)

At the MPH and Seksan events you can enjoy a 25% discount off Evening is the Whole Day and get free postcards.

The following day she's at the Lit Addicts' Meet at MPH Mid Valley with SH Lim 2.30 - 3.30pm, and then at Borders @ The Curve (where you also get a free Starbucks beverage voucher with every purchase of Evening is the Whole Day from 1 - 26 Oct 08).

And on Tues 28 October she has a LiteFM radio interview with PK and Sara.

Busy busy busy!!!

Postscript :

I am so excited to tell you that I've just heard that Chiew-Siah Tei will be joining Preeta at both the Breakfast Club and Seksan's on 25th!!! It's going to be a great literary Saturday!

*Seksan Gallery, 67 Jalan Tempinis Satu, Lucky Garden, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur

Shamini's Success!

Here's another local author to give a big cheer to. Malaysian born, Singapore resident Shamini Flint has bagged a three book publishing deal with British publisher Little, Brown. (See article from Straits Times below and click up to full size.)

Here's the press release for the first of the books to be published under the Piatkus imprint :

A MALAYSIAN MURDER

By Shamini Flint

On death row for the murder of her ex-husband, Chelsea Liew fears never seeing her children again. She’s used to being in the headlines – beautiful Singaporean model, swept off her feet by Malaysian heir to a timber fortune; Chelsea Liew knocked about by millionaire husband; Chelsea and Alan in custody battle over children – but never before has she felt so tortuously exposed.

When Inspector Singh is sent from his home in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to solve Alan Lee’s murder, he isn’t ready for the cultural and religious conflicts that transpire from such a high-profile case. But it is the conflicts within the Liew family that really test Singh’s judgment to its limit. His hunch says that Chelsea is innocent, but just how is he to prove this? And if Chelsea didn’t murder her ex-husband, then how is Inspector Singh, with the Malaysian police working against him, going to discover who did?

This is the first in an exciting and innovative new crime series, with each story set in a different Asian city. Shamini Flint has created an exceptionally endearing hero in Inspector Singh, who can only be described as the Asian Morse. Next stop Bali, then Singapore – this is a truly commercial series with enormous global appeal.

Shamini Flint began her career in law in Malaysia and worked at an international law firm in Singapore, travelling extensively around Asia. She has also taught law at the National University of Singapore. Shamini has written numerous children’s books including ‘Jungle Blues’ and ‘A T-Rex Ate my Homework’. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed ‘Sasha’ series of children’s travel books. She lives in Singapore with her husband and two children.

Imprint: Piatkus
Publication date: early summer 2009
US rights: diane.spivey@littlebrown.co.uk
Translation rights: andy.hine@littlebrown.co.uk

I got to know Shamini through her aunty Usha (who was one of the first friends I made in Malaysia, back in Raub in 1984!) and her mum, Lizzie.

Shamini actually came to me with the manuscript of the first crime novel, Partners in Crime, which she was intending to self-publish (and did) and I gave her some feedback on what was a generally a well-written novel. The best piece of advice I gave her was to bring into the foreground her wonderful detective, Inspector Singh, who in the first draft was languishing in the shadows somewhat, with egg on his tie.

I'm thrilled to bits that Singh (whom I really feel very fond of!) will now be taking a much wider audience by storm. (The dedication on the left means a lot to me.)

Shamini launched a second novel Partners in Crime, at the Singapore's Writer's festival in December. I suspect that this is the same book as A Malaysian Murder.

She had pitched the idea of a crime series set in this part of the world to publishers before, but was rejected. Having two self-published novels under her belt certainly helped her secure a five figure deal at the London Bookfair.

What Shamini has, I think, is the absolute determination to succeed even with odds stacked against her. (Make a note of that, guys. This is what it takes.)

As the article mentions, Shamini, a lawyer in a previous life who began writing and publsihing because it was a job she could fit in around being a full-time mum, is also the author of some excellent children's books - (I especially love Jungle Blues with its beautiful William Blake style tiger who accidentally jumps into a pot of indigo dye.)

We will be seeing her at Readings@Seksan soon ... most probably October. Meanwhile you can check out her website for Sunbear Publishing (for the children's books) and Heliconia Press (for the adult books).

Some January Events for Your Diary

Here's are some not-to-be-missed January lit events to put in your diary.

How great that another venue for live literature has sprung up. Raja Ahmad has a great list of readers for Kata-Suara, to be held at his very beautiful gallery on Saturday 19th January. Do support! (More on Ted's blog.)

The monthly MPH Writer's Circle meeting takes place on 19th January too (11.00am - 12.30pm in the Booker Room.) I think these meetings are very worthwhile, particularly as you get to know so much about author's experiences of getting published and marketing their books. Sadly, they haven't been attended as well as they deserve to be. This month's guest is Jason Fong, author of Feng Shui in the City. So if you want to write a book on Feng-Shui (and I must confess I've toyed with the idea) or if you want to hear another author's "war-story" about how you move from initial concept to finished book, do come along.

If you like crime fiction, you might like to meet Singapore's answer to Agatha Christie! Shamini Flint (left) is launching her second detective novel, Criminal Minds at the La Bodega Lounge on Monday 21st Jalan Telawi 2 at 7.45. (More about this author another day.)

You are probably aware that MPH have a monthly book-discussion, and you can get a 20% discount on the chosen title.

This month focuses on Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain, and to make this an extra-special meeting - the author himself will be there to talk about the book and answer your questions. (Eh, how often you got chance to chat to a Booker-nominated author, especially of the home-grown variety?)

If you haven't read the book yet (and you should because 1) it's a great big passionate, exciting read 2) you will enjoy the Penang setting 3) Malaysia really boleh in this instance, so you can enjoy feeling proud), then you have nine more days to buy it and read it

(MPH as usual has lots on, which you can check out here.)

Readings@Seksan's is on Saturday 26th January, and I'll be putting up the line-up very soon. It will be a very special readings as we are celebrating our third birthday and need you help to blow out the candles! Tunku Halim will be among the readers, and he will also be appearing at MPH's Breakfast Club at the Bangsar Village 2 branch at 11 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. (He will be appearing at several other events while he is in town, and has listed these on his blog.)

That same afternoon Indonesian authors Lakshmi Pamuntjak and Goenawan Mohamad are appearing at Silverfish at 5 p.m. (Come to Readings first and then skip over the road!) Goenawan will be launching On God and Other Things, the English translation of his book of aphorisms, Tentang Tuhan dan Hal-Hal yang Tak Selesai. This event is sponsored by the Malaysian International Literature Society (MILS).

You can also catch Lakshmi and Goenawan at a talk at the English Department, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty Universiti Malaya at 9 a.m. (I kid you not!) on Sunday 27th January. If you'd like to attend, contact Catalina Rembuyan or via Facebook. I plan to be there ... but can't guarantee to be awake.

Feel like a party? Project Open Mike Gig are inviting you to a night of mayhem on Sunday 27th January 7.30 till very late at The Dram Projects BG-6 Happy Mansions, Jalan 17/13, P.J.
This from their Facebook ad:

Because this is an OMG event, anyone who feels like whipping out a guitar should feel free. Poets are, however, advised to keep it to no more than 17 stanzas. And no free verse about curry leaves! Mostly, however, it's a party, which means Doritos, dancing and debauchery [in that order]. Bring a bottle or three!!!

Who can resist?

Phew! Have I forgotten anything? Do let me know in the comments and I'll append it.