THE George Town Literary Festival is an international literary festival celebrating world literature, translations and literary arts. Held annually in the Unesco World Heritage site of George Town, Penang, the festival was awarded ‘The International Excellence Awards 2018 for Literary Festival’.
This year, the Festival goes online, as we look at the role of literature and art in the time of Covid.
Seven new podcasts are out today, November 28, on Spotify, in both English and Bahasa Malaysia:
Black Milk of Morning — Paul Celan Centenary. Speakers: Pierre Joris, Pauline Fan
Paul Celan remains one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Grappling with the long shadow of the Holocaust, Celan’s poetry was forged from language that had passed “through the thousand darknesses of death-bringing speech”. It was a powerful Gegenwort (counter-word) that resounded against the violence of obliteration, against the limits of poetry and language itself. In conjunction with the centenary of Paul Celan’s birth, we speak to the distinguished poet and translator Pierre Joris, who has engaged deeply with Celan’s work for over 50 years. We explore the complexities and intricacies of Celan’s poetics, his striking reconfigurations of the German language, and what Joris calls Celan’s “fearful polysemy”. This conversation is moderated by GTLF Co-Director Pauline Fan, who is translating Celan’s poetry into Malay.
Fatimah Busu: Memecah Tempurung Belenggu. Pembicara: Fatimah Busu, Regina Ibrahim
“Tiada guna menjadi penulis jika karya yang ditulis tidak menyuarakan kepentingan dan kebajikan masyarakatnya”. Begitu menurut Fatimah Busu. Sedari awal menulis, sasterawan dan novelis ini tekal menegur ketempangan yang terjadi dalam masyarakatnya. Namun, tidak selalunya teguran lewat sastera disambut baik oleh khalayaknya atau lebih-lebih lagi oleh sang penguasa. Regina Ibrahim bersama Fatimah Busu berbicara tentang sastera Malaysia, tujuan menulis, dan perihal lain di sekitarnya.
Illusive Elucidations: Aida Redza in Conversation. Speakers: Aida Reza, Chee Sek Thim
Spirits, systems, control and release. How does one bridge the chasm between contemporary life and elusive memory-fragments of a past, to reclaim what was meant to be but never was? Renowned dancer and choreographer, Aida Redza, contemplates her search for a language to re-invent a lost lineage that aims to connect, to heal.
In Solidarity: the Writer, his Conscience and the Nation — F. Sionil José in Conversation (main picture). Speakers: F. Sionil José, Eddin Khoo
Best known for his “Rosales Saga” novels, multi-award-winning Filipino writer F. Sionil José, is known equally outside his country for his interventions on questions of land reform and social justice as well as one of the founders of the regional journal of literature and opinion, Solidarity. Born before the Great Depression, he is rare in being a living witness to the tumultuous 20th Century; throughout he has been a consistent advocate for freedom of expression with his confirmation as Vice President of PEN International in October 2019 a testament to that conviction. In this conversation, The Vibes Executive Editor Eddin Khoo speaks to him about the role of the writer in the formation of national consciousness.
Sastera Dalam Kurungan. Pembicara: Nirwan Dewanto, Al-Mustaqeem M. Radhi
Suasana sepi, tersisih, dan terpinggir adalah antara suasana yang sering dikaitkan dengan pengkaryaan sastera. Perbualan ini akan meneroka tentang karya yang terhasil dalam kurungan seperti penjara, pulau orang buangan, di dalam suaka politik (dan mungkin juga dalam tempoh Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan?). Bakal dibincangkan juga “kurungan” bersifat geografi, tentang sastera Melayu yang mungkin membataskan diri cuma dalam wilayah Malaysia atau Asia Tenggara, tentang jarak antara sastera Melayu Malaysia dan Indonesia, dan sebagainya.
The Sandpit by KS Maniam. Speakers: Anne James, Jo Kukathas
In tribute to the late legendary Malaysian writer, K.S. Maniam, GTLF offers a special reading of his play, The Sandpit — a story of tradition, oppression, endurance and the female body set in a working-class Malaysian-Indian family. This dramatised reading features celebrated actresses Anne James and Jo Kukathas reprising the roles of Santha and Sumathi which they performed in the 1994 production.
Poetry and Exile. Speakers: Mwaffaq Al-Hajjar, Amin Kamrani, Abdulsalam, Masuma Tavakoli
Exile has been a recurring theme and metaphor in poetry since ancient times to the present day. How do the social, political and existential conditions of exile or displacement shape a poetry of insistent memory and resistance? Poets and translators Abdulsalam, Amin, Masuma and Mwaffaq gather for a conversation among friends. They speak of longing for their homelands of Syria, Iran and Afghanistan, tensions of belonging in their new home of Malaysia, of hope, loss and the possibility of freedom.
For the full GTLF 2020 programme, please visit http://www.georgetownlitfest.com/
To listen to the full lineup of podcasts, got to Spotify. – The Vibes, November 28, 2020
The Vibes is a proud media partner of The George Town Literary Festival 2020.
