To mark the 25th anniversary of The Women’s Prize for Fiction, a campaign called “Reclaim Her Name” was run to give “female writers the credit they deserve”. In line with this, 25 special editions of novels were reprinted using the real names of 26 women writers who used male pseudonyms - including the likes of George Eliot, Vernon Lee, and George Sand. We discuss the idea behind this initiative, the notion of writers’ pseudonyms, and whether these names need to be “reclaimed” at all. And in Foo...
Sep 22, 2020•30 min
Communism, a handover of power, the importance of journalism, frustrated love, and a central familial mystery. All these threads are woven together in William Tham's novel, The Last Days, which is set under the shadow of the Malayan Emergency. We discuss the research and process of putting this work together, and the pressure of writing about this particular time in history. And then in Footnotes, we review the book! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 15, 2020•28 min
One of few Malaysian authors to be published internationally, Hanna Alkaf prides herself on writing unabashedly Malaysian stories. Following the success of her YA book “The Weight of our Sky”, she’s back with “The Girl and the Ghost”, a middle-grade title about a young Malaysian girl and a pelesit that finds its way into her life. But along the way, Hanna also unfolds a tale of friendships, growing up, and staying true to oneself. We speak with Hanna about her process of writing the book, and th...
Sep 08, 2020•38 min
2020 is a year that has always loomed large in the Malaysian imagination - a year when we would be a fully developed country (whatever that means), and really come into our own (ditto). 2020: An Anthology is all about exploring what 2020 means to 20 Malaysian writers, and filtering this year and its promise through short pieces of writing. We sit down and discuss our favourites, and how it feels to have read this book about 2020, in a version of it that is beyond what many of us could have imagi...
Sep 01, 2020•32 min
2020 is a year that has always loomed large in the Malaysian imagination - a year when we would be a fully developed country (whatever that means), and really come into our own (ditto). 2020: An Anthology is all about exploring what 2020 means to 20 Malaysian writers, and filtering this year and its promise through short pieces of writing. We sit down and discuss our favourites, and how it feels to have read this book about 2020, in a version of it that is beyond what many of us could have imagi...
Sep 01, 2020•32 min
2020 is a year that has always loomed large in the Malaysian imagination - a year when we would be a fully developed country (whatever that means), and really come into our own (ditto). 2020: An Anthology is all about exploring what 2020 means to 20 Malaysian writers, and filtering this year and its promise through short pieces of writing. We sit down and discuss our favourites, and how it feels to have read this book about 2020, in a version of it that is beyond what many of us could have imagi...
Sep 01, 2020•32 min
Salman Rushdie might be best known for his fifth book, The Satanic Verses - which resulted in a fatwa against him in 1989 - but a dive into his body work shows that there is much more to him than notoriety. In his 40-year career as a writer, Rushdie has published nearly 20 books, many of which won widespread acclaim. In this month’s Bibliography, we look at how Rushdie’s unique approach to stories on migration and mingling cultures shaped an entire generation of literature. We wrap things up wit...
Aug 25, 2020•36 min
If everyone were eating (farmed) human flesh - would you? That's the question put forth in Agustina Bazterrica's provocative novel Tender is the Flesh, a story that's set in a world in which animals had to be culled because of a mysterious virus, and humans are now the only livestock in the meat industry. We discuss the ways in which this book explores ideas of consumption, propaganda and normalisation, with Bilqis Hijjas. And then in Footnotes, we celebrate George Orwell's Animal Farm, which ju...
Aug 18, 2020•34 min
If you remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books from your childhood, you will immediately recognise that exciting feeling of being given a choice within a novel’s story. Intan Paramaditha, however, adapts the concept into a much more adult world that looks at questions of travel, migration, agency, and privilege - which all begin with a woman in Jakarta being given a pair of red shoes by a demon. We speak with Intan about the process behind writing a book like this, and why it so perfectly...
Aug 11, 2020•37 min
In conjunction with International Friendship Day, we dedicate this episode of By the Book to examining how literature has traditionally handled this relationship. And it turns out that outside of sidekicks, toxic friendships and loners, examples of healthy friendships are hard to come by. Nevertheless, we discuss examples including Anne Shirley and Diana Barry, Asterix and Obelix, and the Losers Club of It. Then in Footnotes, we move on to discussing literary news of the week. See omnystudio.com...
Aug 04, 2020•36 min
For this month’s book club, fellow BFMer and Potterhead Dhanya Nair joins us to discuss J.K. Rowling’s official return to the world of children’s stories, with her free online serialised novel, The Ickabog. Expect plenty of excitement as we dissect the fairy tale that nevertheless displays some unexpectedly dark plot turns, and decide whether Rowling manages to weave her signature magic. In Footnotes, we return to the real world to discuss Rowling’s recent online controversies, and how they have...
Jul 28, 2020•33 min
Purveyor of witty, sparkling dialogue, observations about women, life and marriage, and writer of heartfelt romance, Jane Austen remains one of the most popular (and reprinted) authors of all time. In our second episode of Bibliography, our monthly author series, we focus on Jane Austen's life, six novels, and modern interpretations of her work. After, we talk about some of our favourite book-to-screen Austen adaptations. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 22, 2020•33 min
In a book that is being described as “Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones’s Diary”, Malaysian-born-Singapore-based writer Lauren Ho’s debut Last Tang Standing tells the humorous story of 33-year-old Andrea Tang: a successful lawyer and woman of the world, but also about to become the lone unmarried member of her generation in her family. We speak with Lauren about writing humour, Asianness, and whether she enjoys the “chick lit” label. We wrap things up with a Footnotes discussion on the chick...
Jul 14, 2020•33 min
He caddied for prime ministers and gave lessons to kings, and rubbed shoulders with golfing greats in his own time. The Legend is about the life of a local sporting hero, V Nellan, focused not just on his love of golf but about a life well-lived and well-told. We speak to one of the co-authors of the book, Bob Holmes. After that, on Footnotes, in conjunction with the 4th of July, we talk about books that represent America today, in all its complexity and racial struggles. See omnystudio.com/list...
Jul 07, 2020•33 min
He caddied for prime ministers and gave lessons to kings, and rubbed shoulders with golfing greats in his own time. The Legend is about the life of a local sporting hero, V Nellan, focused not just on his love of golf but about a life well-lived and well-told. We speak to one of the co-authors of the book, Bob Holmes. After that, on Footnotes, in conjunction with the 4th of July, we talk about books that represent America today, in all its complexity and racial struggles. See omnystudio.com/list...
Jul 07, 2020•33 min
In this month’s book club, we are joined by history PhD candidate and former BFMer Chase Caldwell Smith, to discuss Rutger Bregman’s Humankind - A Hopeful History. Together, we discuss the book’s case for optimism, its central thesis that humans are inherently decent, and whether we were able to get onboard with the idea. In Footnotes, this leads us to discussing other books that left us feeling, well, optimistic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 30, 2020•33 min
On this episode of By the Book, we observe International Fairy Day by looking into all the ways in which the fair folk and the land of Faery have influenced our stories and oral traditions. We also discuss some of our favourite stories that have fairies (and why they're different from fairy tales). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 23, 2020•34 min
Welcome to Bibliography, our monthly author series where we focus on and deep-dive into one specific author’s works, style, influences and legacy. We’ll also be talking about interpretations and adaptations of their works. Kicking things off, is perhaps the best known writer of all time, the Bard himself, William Shakespeare. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 16, 2020•42 min
From telling the true version of the Lord of the Flies, to dismantling long-held beliefs around the Stanford Prison Experiment and the murder of Kitty Genovese, Humankind is a book that sets out the argument that humans are fundamentally decent. Veering through examples and science from different disciplines such as biology, psychology, and human history, this is a book that attempts to cut through the cynicism of the modern age and offers a more optimistic version of what it means to be a reali...
Jun 09, 2020•34 min
With June 1 being the Global Day of Parents, we celebrate good parents in literature (despite their relative rarity!), and talk about how different authors have depicted the lasting impact of good parenting in their stories. Books discussed include A Girl from Yamhill (Beverly Cleary), About a Boy (Nick Hornby), Boy, Snow Bird (Helen Oyeyemi), A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl), and The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri). See omnystudio.com/listene...
Jun 02, 2020•32 min
A delightful, (relatively) standalone novel in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, Small Gods tells the story of a god who finds himself in the body of a one-eyed tortoise, seeking the help of a true believer. It's a quest story, but also one that tells a story of power, humanism and philosophy - all while being laugh out loud funny. Dr Murallitharan Munisamy joins us for this month's book club, and stays on to chat in our Footnotes about other books that also tackle and highlight philosophical ...
May 28, 2020•34 min
Clarissa Goenawan is an Indonesian-born Singaporean writer who wrote the award-winning 2015 novel “Rainbirds”. In her latest novel, “The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida”, she travels through Japan’s history to tell the story of a tragic mystery. We speak with Clarissa about writing histories and trauma, and how she delved into a different culture in her fiction. We wrap things up by taking a look at news from the literary world and how the industry is adapting to these uncertain times. See omnyst...
May 19, 2020•31 min
As we head into the end (fingers crossed) of the Movement Control Order, we're being inundated with ideas and concepts surrounding the New Normal, as we learn to live in a world with Covid-19, and all the adjustments that might entail. So in this episode, we discuss books that talk about this very thing: The New Normal, through the prism of personal stories, migration, and even money. And in Footnotes, we talk about whether an author's personal life influences the way we view them. See omnystudi...
May 12, 2020•36 min
Emotions like anxiety and grief aren’t always easy to explain or express - perhaps that’s why reading about them within the pages of a book can be so compelling. This week, we discuss books that feature these complex emotions as themes, and then close things off with more recommendations of long articles to read. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 06, 2020•33 min
As self-avowed fans of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics, we knew there was no way we could discuss the entire series in one show. So we're continuing our journey through this complex series, with its weave of dreams, mythology and culture, by discussing Volumes 4 and 5: Season of Mists and A Game of You. Joining us on this journey is BFM’s own Haniff Baharudin. We then close off with some other graphic novel recommendations. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 28, 2020•29 min
Travel may not be a luxury that we have right now, but to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day this year, we thought we’d take the idea literally - and travel the world through books. We look at books from various countries in the world, and how they offer us a glimpse into what life might be like in a different place and culture - as well who gets to “present” a particular country in literature. Books discussed include: Life & Death in Shanghai (China), The Quiet American (Vietnam), Funny...
Apr 21, 2020•30 min
Science and technology gone wrong, totalitarian governments, a world out of balance - dystopian universes have long been fertile ground for the imagination, stemming from recognisable, relatable fears. In this episode, we talk about our favourite dystopian works, and then recommend some great long articles we've enjoyed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 14, 2020•32 min
With most of us spending much more time at home now, experimenting in the kitchen has become one form of enjoyment and escape for many people. And if there’s one thing we love more than a good book, it’s a good meal! So this week, we’re discussing the special place that cookbooks hold, and more generally, books that focus on food. And then, we close the show off by discussing books that taught us new skills. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 07, 2020•34 min
For this month's book club, we dive into Zen Cho's collection of short stories that explore different takes on fairy tales and ghost stories, that take place in Malaysia and abroad, in this world and in others. And then in keeping with this episode's loose theme of escapism, we talk about what our desert island reads would be. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 31, 2020•30 min
What would we read if we had to stay home all day? This hypothetical question has, in the past week or so, become a reality for most of us Malaysians, so we discuss what we have been reading, what we plan to read, and why. We wrap things up with a nod to World Poetry Day, by having poet Dhinesha Karthigesu perform for us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 24, 2020•33 min
