By The Book

In her latest collection of poetry titled “Incantations, Incarcerations”, Malaysian poet Bernice Chauly explores ageing, menopause, motherhood - juxtaposed against a world that is changing around us. We speak with her about writing raw and honest poetry from a female perspective, and why we need more such Malaysian voices. We wrap things up by sharing some of our favourite poems.

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This month, our book club loudly greets listeners with an 'Irasshaimase!', as we discuss Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata's award-winning novel about a woman in her 30s who desires nothing more than to be a convenience store worker while living in a society that doesn't see any value in that position. After that, we discuss Japanese fiction and its specific tone and style.

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For most readers, the love of books is something that is instilled in childhood. Yet, how exactly do you get a child to love reading? We’re joined by fellow reader and parent Tee Shiao Eek, as we discuss how we each got introduced to books, some possible ways to create little readers, and what some of our childhood faves were.

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In light of Kamila Shamsie having a literary prize revoked for her personal support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement, we use it as a launching pad to discuss whether authors' political beliefs affect our enjoyment of their work, and for that matter, whether it should. And then we move on to looking at how soon is too soon when it comes to writing books that capture our current political zeitgeist and maelstrom.

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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 kick things off with the first of several book club discussions on this complex series, which is centred on the idea of dreams and stories. Joining us on this journey is BFM’s own Haniff Baharudin. First up, we discuss Volumes 1-3: Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll’s House, and Dream Country. We wrap things up with a discussion on other graphic novels that we’ve enjoyed.

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In conjunction with World Alzheimer's Day, we're broadcasting a live special recorded at Lit Books where we talked about Nicci Gerrard's book What Dementia Teaches Us About Love. An affecting exploration of dementia and its effects on the self, family, and society, the book was based on the life and death of Gerrard's father. We speak with Dr Rishikesan Kuppusamy for a local perspective on dementia and all its complications, and Fong Min Hun about the book itself. Then we mull over the value of book events, such as readings, launches and the like.

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It all begins with one photo and three women: Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong, and Leni Riefenstahl. From there, Amanda Lee Koe's first novel branches out to explore the stories of their lives and their choices, and the smaller, no less important stories of outsiders living in their wake. We speak to Amanda about Old Hollywood and its allure, and the process behind writing this intricate, dreamy book. And then! We catch up with some correspondence we received recently.

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Some books have long been thought of as unfilmable - too dense, too layered, too metaphorical, too internalised, take your pick - but in this episode, we wanted to explore whether that's true. And while we're at it, we also get into what kind of readers we are in terms of wanting to see someone else's version of a book play out on screen, and also whether the brave new world of prestige TV is changing the very definition of unfilmable books. Special guest Bahir Yeusuff of Skip Intro joins us.

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With Merdeka Day around the corner, this month’s book club looks at a very Malaysian title - Scenes of the Father by Amir Hafizi, an illustrated short story of sorts which explores rural Malaysian life through the lens of memory and nostalgia. Joining us to discuss the book and more generally, the idea of what a “Malaysian book” means, is writer, filmmaker, and publisher Amir Muhammad.

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Pink sparkly covers and entire aisles that just scream Chick Lit are often juxtaposed against weighty tomes and covers that are all about action and saving the world, so we wanted to explore the question of whether we're giving in to gendered norms on our bookshelves, and what that means for us as readers. Wading into the thicket with us on this one is Arvindh Yuvaraj, someone who has never bought into this notion.

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