| Title | : | Endings \u0026 Beginnings |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9789671029251 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 210 |
| Publication | : | First published November 25, 2018 |
― John Irving, The World According to Garp
Endings and Beginnings was the theme for the 2017 D.K. Dutt Award for Literary Excellence and this book includes the winning story by Saras Manickam, and pieces by runners-up Marc de Faoite and Sharmilla Ganesan.
New beginnings grow out of endings and here are stories of characters whose life is changed by loss or failure, or by new awareness.
An unplanned pregnancy forces a young couple into an unhappy marriage in rural Sabah; a near-death experience sends a writer reeling through past lives; and a father appreciates his learning-challenged son only after the boy dies. A mother-to-be revisits her childhood home to confront dark memories of abuse … and worse; an elderly woman decides that it is time to repent her sins and find God through reciting the Qu’ran; and a teacher learns to stand up to a bullying colleague.
Elsewhere, hunters search for prey in prehistoric Iberia; an Uber driver stops to fulfill a last wish before conveying souls to the next world; and a woman finds walls of colourism barring her travel.
In this, the last year of the competition, 2015 winner Hanna Alkaf and 2016 runner-up Sumitra Selvaraj write about how the DK Dutt Award has shaped their own writing journeys.
This is a delicious rojak of writing from some of the strongest voices writing in English in Malaysia.
Endings \u0026 Beginnings Reviews
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Edited by Dipika Mukherjee and Sharon Bakar, Endings and Beginnings is the third and final in a series of anthologies of Malaysian writing drawn from entries for the DK Dutt Award for Literary Excellence.
(Full disclosure/humblebrag: I have stories featured in each of the three anthologies, and have twice been short-listed for the award.)
The theme of the 2017 DK Dutt Award for Literary Excellence was ‘Endings and Beginnings’ and this collection uses this as its title, with a varied cast of writers interpreting it in interesting and often unexpected ways.
There’s a lot to like about this collection. In any collection there will be highs and lows, but there are very few pieces here that don’t stand out as finely-honed pieces of writing. To my mind it is probably the strongest of the three anthologies.
There are contributions from writers whose names will be familiar to anyone who follows contemporary Malaysian writing in English, but also some new names and very welcome fresh new voices.
SA Rosly’s story Cik Maimon is a case in point. This is apparently the writer’s first published story, but is written with the pose and control of a seasoned writer. Every sentence is meticulously crafted, and the author bravely tackles the twin themes of piety and bigotry in an understated but very effective way.
Radio presenter Shazmin Shamsuddin’s name is familiar to many in Malaysia, but not as a writer. At least not until now. Her story Light is also her first published story, a heartfelt exploration of a Near Death Experience, and quite a rollercoaster of a ride that stayed with this reader for a long time after reading.
Several of the stories in this collection incorporate the theme of food, a subject dear to the hearts – and stomachs – of most Malaysians, and something I have noted about stories in the previous collections in this series. But many more stories here deal with bigger ideas and concerns.
A number of stories have characters facing past trauma and coming to terms with that in different ways.
One of the stand out pieces in this respect, but also in the entire collection, is Aizuddin H. Anuar’s beautifully written story Taxi Therapy.
V.S. Lai’s haunting story Inheritance sees a pregnant mother facing her future, and the future of her family, by turning back to confront her past.
Saras Manicakam’s story was the winner of the 2017 DK Dutt award and is a heart-wrenching exploration of a family coping - or not, as the case may be – with an intellectually challenged child.
Other stories are more personal and read more as non-fiction, or auto fiction.
Mohan Ambikaipaker’s touching homage to his grandmother is a good example, and one of the more structurally adventurous pieces here.
Melizarani T. Selva’s piece, The Skin I’m In, deals with Malaysia’s endemic racism and the difficulties that creates in negotiating bureaucracy and life in general, but also offers light in the unexpected points of empathy she encounters on the journey she describes.
One of the more playful stories featured here is Yama Takes a Drive by Sharmilla Ganesan. She blends Hindu mythology with the modern day, casting Yama, the God of Death and adjudicator of the destination of souls, as an indulgent Uber driver, and also manages to make this story a tribute to one of Malaysia’s favourite desserts, Ice Kacang.
The book concludes with winner of the 2016 DK Dutt Award, Sumitra Selvaraj’s lovely non-fiction piece, touching on the unusual coincidences that life brings. Or perhaps it emphasizes just how small the Malaysian writing scene in English really is. Or both.
The final contribution is from Hanna Alkaf, who won the 2015 DK Dutt Award with her first published story. Her piece tells of that writing journey and how it led to her writing a novel that was picked by a major international publisher – a writer to be watched.
All in all Endings and Beginnings is an excellent introduction to anyone who wants to feel the beating pulse of the contemporary Malaysian writing scene, and a welcome addition to the bookshelves of anyone already familiar with Malaysian writing in English. -
There are some good stories, some mind boggling stories and also some that I skipped after reading 1-2 pages.
