This is how the cover of my first book of poetry looks like. By day, I am not a poet.By night, neither. As one ages, one needs to explore something not explored yet. The psyche. Perhaps in my other life I WAS a poet.Perhaps I was the female Aristotle. :) Would you buy this book? It is about to be printed. Even if you would not buy it, it would still be printed. Childbirth is not something you can halt!
16 comments:
This is a beautiful cover. I would buy any book Dr. Manaf authors.
Ha ha. Thank you Akira! I like your blog too.Say hi to your mom and dad.Auntie hopes Dad's play in San Francisco went well.Next time you fly back to Asia, stop in KL, OK?
Hi Webar! I'm sorry the nutmeg cover didn't work out.The next time you are in KL, I'll get Nik to take you to Balik Pulau to get fresh nutmegs! Thank you for dropping by my blog.
Dr Faridah, beautiful cover. Perhaps we could discuss about your suggestion to launch the book.
Uthaya, I'm glad you made it to my blog! Yes, let's meet up and discuss things although not necessarily about my book alone.
Prof Quayum,I must thank you for your support of my past works.Those which appeared in your Petals of Hibiscus (2003) are also included in this book.The new ones are more undisciplined! :)
Folks, Wong Phui Nam is one of our pioneering poets who wrote in English.Finally, I got the guts to give him a copy of my book in return of two of his latest (An Acre of Day's Glass and his play Anike)The guru wrote this:
I appreciate your feel for words and the subtlety underlying the apparent simplicity of some of the lines.
I am happy to see that there are poets much younger than myself writing. I wish there were more like you. Malaysia needs her poets.
Phui Nam
So to aspiring poets: fear not of writing or exposing your talent.Someone somewhere (even the guru) will say something nice. :)
And this is the sweetest and most touching response of my book:
I left the Art of Naming on the table when I went out for dinner last nite, when I came back,my friend said "tis woman is brilliant, her poems are so funny, touching and so honest", we fought to read, English and Malay, back and forth, I woke up tis morning to continue reading, now I remember the day I arrived home when my mother died 43 days ago, I had to stay calm infront of men and women of the village.After reading your 'Death of a great man', I remember that great woman who brought red apples from Singapore for her children.I cried alone under the reading light, thinking of the red apple.
Al fatihah to your mom,Z.Thanks for this touching response.It would take a while to allow everything to sink in, I know.
And C from NZ wrote this:
I read the poems this morning and really enjoyed them.
I found my self laughing and crying as I read them.
Thanks C.I remember crying writing one of them and if that pain got through to you, well done! You have a very sensitive soul like most who had responded the same way I/you did.Happy reading!
Yanti wrote this:
Dear Faridah,
I was checking the Silverfish bookstore one day and came across your book, The Art of Naming. I started reading it, and decided to purchase it since I enjoyed the first few poems that I read. Were all the poems really an accumulation of years of writing? Did you write so many more before that? If so, how did you choose the poems for this book?
I too had my higher education done overseas, and although many of your reviewers thought "The Veil, My Body" to be their favorite, I personally liked "MSD Officers". It was sarcastically funny.
Thank you, Yanti.I have answered most of your questions in a private email but funny how my eldest niece (who did her medical degree in Malaysia and had never studied abroad) could relate to the MSD poem too and like you, she liked it so much.
Dr K of Philadelphia wrote this of my book:
I felt that conflict between adventure and security in your poem, "Flinders, South Australia" in your "Art of Naming" that you sent us. Thank you so much!
I have read all the poems now, as has my husband. I was touched by a lot of them, and some made me laugh aloud (mostly the ones about being a woman). I especially liked "Memories of the old bicycle", "I Had Asked Too Much," and "I will not apologize." I plan to use some of your poems with my students, especially "Cultural Diversity?" and "The Veil Which is Me." I wish I could hear the poems in Malaysian---we've tried reading some aloud with the pronunciation we imagine coming from English letters (probably wrong). Maybe I'll have a Malaysian student soon who can read them aloud for me.
The poem about the death of your father especially affected me because of what my family has been going through recently with my father. He's still alive, but just barely, it seems. He's been on a ventilator to help him breathe for the last 2 weeks, but today they're going to try to take him off it.
(I have to cut the rest as they are pretty personal and I don't have the right to expose private contents of my private mails..sorry, folks!)
Maryam wrote this in 2012:
Salam Prof.
Just finished reading your book for the third time and dcided to drop by your mailbox to say:
My choice of reading for today. I admire your writings very much. They are beautiful and personal.
I was waiting fr the train to arrive ths mrning when I read 'Di hari kematian seorang lelaki gagah'. Got tears running down my cheek. Love the last two stanzas.
I also enjoy Lahore,*English dorm mates and the muslim gals and After *Taraweh Prayers.
I wish you more wonderful years to come and thank you for simply being a wonderful teacher.
Me in 2013:
Thank you, Maryam.Reading your heartfelt comments make me feel like writing another poetry book.We'll see.I'm working on writing a recipe book with my family.Pray for me tht I'd find the time to do this overdue project.
Dato' Baha Zain in Feb 2013:
Saya baharu membaca kembali kumpulan puisi The Art of Naming sewaktu sedang membongkar kumpulan pelbagai buku di kamar baca untuk dipindahkan ke tempat lain. Dahulu tak berkesempatan menelitinya. Menarik, cerdik dan witty. Adakah kumpulan baharu? Harap terus mencipta lagi.
Terima kasih Dato, di atas komen yang memberi semangat kpd saya.InsyaAllah sebaik saya selesai projek besar saya di uni, saya akan kembali menulis secara kreatif.
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