'The Lockdown Chronicles' – stories ring loud in silence of isolation 

YOU know something great is bound to happen when women with equal passion for the written word join forces.

As the world scrambles to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, stories of resilience and hope in this time of isolation bring new meaning at how we take stock of what matters. It is this inspiration that prompted two great friends, Viji Krishnamoorthy and Shireen Zainudin, to collect as many experiences through unique storytelling in their upcoming anthology, 'The Lockdown Chronicles'.

Tales worth telling

"Aside from myself and Viji, we rounded up 17 other Malaysian writers – or voices as we would call them – which totalled up to 19 stories fictionally retold based on whatever we experience, saw, heard or read over the course of the lockdown,” said Shireen, noting that it took the two only a couple of days to start working on the draft and gather friends as well as acquaintances to jump on the idea.

Naturally after months of socially distancing and following the lift of the first wave lockdown, Viji was the first person she had met “that wasn’t family".

“We shared individual accounts and the stories we heard of people dealing with the lockdown, which wasn’t specifically good or bad but compelling at best. And knowing that it is a universal but also a very singular experience, Viji and I decided earlier on that we needed to collect these stories and turn it into a book,” said Shireen, on how the idea for the book came about. The decision to not produce it as a personal narrative is to see "what stories people can come up with and not limit the freedom of writing through the filter of fiction".

The pair with 17 years' worth of friendship sought as many different voices contributing to “avoid becoming repetitive".

“What we didn’t want to happen was to have too many generic voices coming from a single postcode or bubble. So, we made sure we got a range of voices from the marginalised to the middle class, regardless if they had a background in writing prior,” said Viji.

“Apart from giving young writers the opportunity to showcase their works and penetrate the industry (where it could be very scary for budding talents), it was also an opportunity to allow these individuals – who don’t necessarily call themselves wordsmiths – the chance to tell interesting stories.”

Among the list of stories and writers that contributed to the anthology include ‘The Affair’ by Candice Foong, ‘#istillwantmypr’ by Shida Mahadi, ‘The batch of Covid-19’ by Michelle Soin, ‘The Obituary of Lazarus Lee’ by Pete Teo, ‘Look at Me’ by Sarena Salleh, ‘The Burglar’ by Mwaffaq Al-Hajjar, ‘Roti Manis’ by Nur Suraya, ‘Fruit from the Loom’ by Renie Leng, ‘The Dao of Carpenter Street’ by Alasdair Clayre, ‘MCO - MANicure Control Order’ by Marc De Faoite, ‘Rites of Passage’ by Pauline Fan, ‘Vaastu Shastra’ by Lavina Valiram, ‘The Hunter’ by Clarice Chan, ‘River’ by Sujatha Shekar Naik, ‘Waiting’ by Hartini Zainudin, ‘Unmasked’ by Su Ming Tham and ‘Sembilanbelas’ by Ranjit Singh.

Both Viji and Shireen contributed stories titled ‘Migrating to Community’ and ‘Death in the Time of Corona’, respectively.

“As a bonus, we also manage to include two amazing cartoons – ‘Life with the Anurendras’ by Anurendra Jegadeva and ‘Food for Thought’ by Maya Ranjit Singh.

"It was quite interesting to see the stories coming together through the eyes and writings of different people, which Shireen and I had the pleasure of compiling and editing,” added Viji.

On what makes a good story, she notes her love for the written word would be in the “delivery of the language – if it’s poetic and can evoke a captivating imagery, that is when it moves me.”

“It's such a difficult question to answer,” Shireen said. “Because if I knew I would have written 100 different stories by now, but I guess it’s when a piece is good and you just want to keep on reading.”

“Whether it’s a play with words or a beautiful turn of phrase, what should be at heart is the magnitude of the substance of what someone says in a written format to ‘make a story epic’.”

Confessing that writing can be equally energising and exhausting at the same time, the pair shared a few pieces of advice: “When I decide to write, I would spend two days reading or watching shows (on Netflix) to get inspired and it could be from a catchy phrase or a colour to kickstart and keep the [writing] juices flowing. I am bad at being immediately told to write and need a bit of time, friends or those that work close with me can attest to this. I can’t do it automatically.”

As for Viji, it would be her mornings where she finds it best for writing.

“That’s the best for me to start off my work. I would also jot down as much as I can in the most unexpected time – for instance, while cooking or in the middle of a conversation. I’m also equally not as disciplined but when working on this book, I told myself that I had to be – and it seems like I'm writing all the time now and I see it as a reward.

“Just like with everything else, it [writing] takes practice and you become a little bit more intuitive as you go.”

Pauline Fan reading a snippet from ‘Rites of Passage’.

Keeping the love for reading alive

Ultimately, the duo wants to “get Malaysians reading again".

“What we do not want to see is the industry of books dying so if we can get one book published, we can help ease the livelihood of the community (writers, proofreaders, printing companies, and etc) supporting it,” said Shireen. Creatives are also not singled-out in bearing the brunt of the pandemic and that the project is one way of helping the community stay alive. 

“I think the day you found the best book is going to be the saddest day because you won't find anything else to entice you,” added Viji on why writing should be a continuous form of art.

Noting that the project was also a treasured engagement that saw the two good friends working well together, Viji shared her experience to be “brilliant.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t say there weren’t any hiccups of having to collaborate remotely and dealing with the kinks that the pandemic brought – but I truly enjoyed the time that I had working in tandem with Shireen.

“It’s also an eye-opening learning curve for me as it was my first time writing and publishing a short story.”

“What I love about working with Viji is that we have different approaches and different contacts (from students to frontliners and NGO representatives that act as voices for the refugees), but that was what complemented the dynamics of our working relationship. I’m incredibly happy to say that we will be continuing our partnership with more future projects, given the right opportunity.”

Other than enjoying their synergy, Shireen said: “This [book] is our baby that we nurtured from when the idea was sparked to where we are today. Viji and I knew that we need to be brave in finding it a home because it’s not a good time economically – the drive we had in fighting for it to be made representative of a Malaysian experience in 2020 kept our perseverance.

“Some of the stories that came were so cleverly written, leaving me completely enraptured. This was what I find valuable and justifies why we needed to do this.”

“Ideally, we would love to do more than just virtual readings and have an actual face-to-face, but we do what we can and feel is best to get the book noticed by being in various groups and spread the awareness,” added Viji. – The Vibes, November 28, 2020

While the exact publishing date is yet to be determined, The Lockdown Chronicles is geared to be released sometime mid-December. Readers eagerly anticipating for the release of the anthology can stay updated via its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/lockdownchronicles19 

Mwaffaq Al-Hajjar reading a snippet from ‘The Burglar’.