By The Book

Hanna Alkaf's latest young adult novel takes place in the high-pressure world of Scrabble tournaments, where teenager Najwa Bakri is trying to win the title of Queen of the Tiles while also coming to terms with the mysterious death of her best friend a year ago. As Najwa struggles to cope with her grief while also focusing on the competition, her dead friend's Instagram account starts posting cryptic messages. We discuss the thrills of a murder mystery unfolding amidst much word-nerdery, and whether the novel succeeds as a young adult novel. We close off the conversation by discussing our love for word games.  

Image Source: Goodreads

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Organised by MIDP and MY Poetry School, the inaugural Kuala Lumpur Youth Literary Arts Festival will be running from 24th to 26th June 2022, with the aim of promoting literary arts education, highlighting young, emerging writers, and building youth writing communities. We speak to organisers Emellia Shariff and Elaine Foster as well as Teoh Nuan Ning, a young poet who is also one of the mentors during the festival, to find out more about the festival, what attendees can expect, and why it's important to have events like these. Then in Footnotes, both Elaine and Nuan Ning perform some poetry for us. 

Image Source: Kuala Lumpur Youth Literary Arts Festival, Facebook

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All bookstores are not created equal, and the secondhand bookstore holds a special place in the hearts of most bibliophiles - not only do they offer books at an affordable price, but they also provide a place to browse and discover unexpected titles free from the confines of the bestseller list. We speak with the owner of Chaplang Store, a local secondhand bookstore that had its start in the online space, and despite now having a physical store, continues to use social media to draw its customers.  

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A hugely influential poet both during his time and after - William Butler Yeats also lived a very interesting life, as a proud Irish nationalist, occultist, and later in life, even senator. In this Bibliography episode, we discuss his life and career, and of course his writing and its significance. And then in Footnotes, we talk about the ways in which his work has influenced other writers, films and even music.

Image Source: Biography.com

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Project Future Malaysia is an online project where 10 Malaysian creatives reimagine an equitable, fair and sustainable Malaysia through fiction and art. We speak to its founder, Kevin Bathman, and one of the featured writers, Jaymee Goh, about imagining an optimistic future for the nation, and the potential of speculative fiction and futurism in creating a space to do so. We close off the conversation with some futuristic reading recommendations.

Image Source: 'Intangible' by Max Loh | Project Future Malaysia

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A semi-autobiographical novel that shares a title with a Fyodor Dostoevsky novel, The Idiot is a bildungsroman that tells the story of Selin, a Turkish American college freshman, attending Harvard University in the 1990s and falling desperately and confusingly in love with a Hungarian mathematics student, Ivan. An intriguing, funny and unusual look at love, language, and one person's quest for meaning, there's a lot to unpack - which we do, in this book club episode with Alia Zefri, who recommended the novel to us.

Image Source: Public Books

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Best known for the various works that make up Peter Pan, JM Barrie's life was deeply interesting, and marked by tragedy as well as the relationships that informed much of his work. In this episode of Bibliography, we talk about his life, his success in writing, and the way the themes of Peter Pan were inspired by real experiences and people. Then in Footnotes, we talk about the adaptations of his work as well as biopics.

Image Source: English Book Education

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Transpacific - An Asian Canadian Literary Journey is an exhibition including essays and posters, organised by the High Commission of Canada in Malaysia, aiming to highlight Asian Canadian literature and writers. We speak to its curator, Vincent Ternida about putting it together, what it feels like to represent the Asian Canadian writing community, and how his cultural identity has shaped his own writing. And then in Footnotes, we discuss the various ways of being introduced to writers and books, outside of bookstores. 

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To Kill A Mockingbird is a hugely influential classic, and considered one of the great American novels of the 20th century, but its author, Harper Lee famously did not enjoy her fame, or the attention the book brought her, and didn't put anything else out until the controversial publication of Go Set A Watchman. We discuss Harper Lee's life, how it made its way into her books, and her legacy. And then as always in Footnotes, we discuss the adaptation of her work. 

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Childhood literacy isn't always a straightforward thing, and the effects of falling behind in reading can be far-reaching. In this episode, we talk to Rachael Francis about MYReaders, an organisation that aims to provide sustainable reading programmes and develop effective, relevant resources to help children learn to read. We also talk about Rachael's own path to becoming a reader, and the role that parents need to play. And then in Footnotes, we talk about how we learned to love reading.

Image sources: MYReaders, Official website

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