BERNAMA: Suarasuara To Launch New Generation Books

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- In conjunction with the upcoming Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair at the Putra World Trade Centre, RumahPenerbitan Suarauara is set to launch five titles of various genres written by a new generation of writers on Tuesday.

The one-month-old publishing house was set up to give young writers, as well as new generation of writers, the opportunity to get their works published with the hope that the mainstream publishers would notice their works and bring it to the next level.

Suarasuara's founder, Raja Ahmad Aminullah Raja Abdullah, a writer and poet, said some of the work were written by fresh and undiscovered young and mostly urban poets and writers, and readers might find their works invigorating.

"Some may find the writings a bit rough or rude, but these are by raw talents," he told Bernama in an interview.

"We can ask these writers to write something that sounds more polite, but this is what writers in this time think. The writings are different as time goes by," he said.

Raja Ahmad Aminullah gave an example of his first published book entitled "Menyarung Jiwa" or "Soulship", a collection of poems in Malay and English he wrote from 1973 to 2003, noting the development in his writings as the years went by.

"At first, I was hesitant to publish a collection spanning 30 years, but that was who I was during those times," he said.

The five books that will be launched titled "KataHati", "Utopia Trauma", "Gajah Putih / The White Elephant", "Fosil" and "KataKataHati", Raja Ahmad's second collection of poems.

"KataHati" is a collection of an array of compositions such as poetry, essays, fiction and non-fiction works, sketches, photographs and travel writings by mostly unheard talents and Raja Ahmad himself.

"Utopia Trauma" is a debut collection of poems by Rahmat Haron, a sketch artiste and theatre activist, who's poems were based on the experiences mostly visible in modern lives, but unutterable to many.

"Fosil" is also a poetry anthology by Amirul Fakir, a fresh, new generation poet, while "Gajah Putih / The White Elephant", a collection of four short stories in English and Malay, was written by Prof Dr Zakaria Ali, a poet, artist, novelist and professor of art history at University Science Malaysia (USM).

With the publication of these books, Suarasuara hopes to encourage young writers to share their thoughts which reflect what life is, where ever it may be in this time.

Raja Ahmad Aminullah, who also appreciates other countries' literature, said he would be happy if mainstream publishers would recognise the works of new generation writers.

"Suarasuara is a small publishing house and our resources are limited. What we can do is publish some compositions to be distributed at a small scale and hopefully, big publishers would notice them," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Link: Article at Bernama.