Archives: Authors

Amanda Oon is an editor, journalist and author. She writes on social issues, lifestyle, and culture, with a focus on East-West connections.

Ismim Putera is a poet and writer from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. His works can be found in many online journals and anthologies, including To Let the Light In: An Anthology of Life and Death, Instincts: Asian Speculative Poetry 2021, Colours of Tapestry 2: Stories from Asia, Unsaid: An Asian Anthology, and recently in The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories and A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic. ‘Durian Blossoms’ won third place in the 7th Singapore Poetry Contest (2021), ‘Jantina’ was longlisted for the Malaysian Poetry Competition (2021) and Of Dugong and Seagrasses was shortlisted in the Blue-White Dot Short Story Writing Competition (2023). Nipah Nightmares, his debut novel, was published in 2023.

Lewis Carroll (1832 – 1898). Author of two of the best-known and best-loved children’s books ever written, Lewis Carroll is also remembered for his neologisms and nonsense rhymes.
Lewis Carroll is the pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He arrived at this pseudonym by translating his two first names back into English from Latin and reversing their order. Born the eldest of eleven children, he showed an early aptitude for writing and edited his own magazines to entertain the family.
His most notable works are Alice in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass—two of the most popular works of fiction in the English language.

Robert Louis Stevenson is best known for his adventure stories including Treasure Island and Kidnapped which have become classics of English literature. He was a Scottish writer born on November 13, 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Stevenson suffered from poor health throughout his childhood which led to a lifelong struggle with tuberculosis. Stevenson was always more interested in writing and literature than his studies. He began to publish his first essays and stories in magazines while he was still in his teens. His first book, An Inland Voyage was published in 1878 and chronicled a canoe trip he had taken in Belgium and France. His work was hugely popular, and they have become classics of English literature. His literary style was known for its vivid characters, exciting plots and a sense of adventure that captured the imagination of readers around the world. His works have been adapted into countless films, plays and television shows, and his legacy continues to inspire readers and writers alike.

Oscar Wilde was an Anglo-Irish poet and playwright, novelist, poet and critic. He was born on October 16 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. He was the second son of Sir William Wilde, a renowned doctor and his wife, Jane Francesca Wilde, a writer and Irish nationalist. Wilde showed an early talent for
writing and he excelled academically. After graduating from Oxford, Wilde moved to London and began to make a name for himself as a writer and a public speaker. He became associated with the aesthetic movement, a group of artists and writers who valued beauty and artifice above all else. In 1881, Wilde published his first collection of poetry which received mixed reviews. Eventually, it was his play, The Importance of Being Earnest which premiered in 1895 that is considered his masterpiece.

Mark Twain was an American writer, humourist, entrepreneur, publisher and lecturer; his real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, a town on the Mississippi River that would later inspire many of his works. Twain had a difficult childhood, marked by poverty and the death of his father when he was just eleven years old. Despite these challenges, he was an excellent student and showed a talent for writing at an early age. These experiences influenced his writings which often dealt with recurring themes of loss and mortality. He went on to publish more works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) which are now considered classics of American literature. Twain was known for his humour and satire as well as his commentary on American society and politics.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, known by her pen name L.M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for her beloved novel, Anne of Green Gables. She was born on November 30 1874, in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Her early childhood was marked by tragedy, as her mother died of tuberculosis when Montgomery was just 21 months old. Throughout her life, L.M. Montgomery struggled with personal challenges, including depression and the demands of being a prominent author. despite these difficulties, she continued to create beloved stories that have enchanted readers for generations.
Montgomery’s literary legacy endures through the enduring popularity of Anne of Green Gables and her other works, which continue to inspire and captivate readers of all ages. She passed away on April 24 1942, leaving behind a rich literary legacy that has left an indelible mark on Canadian and world literature.

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924). Novelist and children’s writer, Hodgson Burnett’s reputation rests on her three famous children’s books, Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess and The Secret Garden.
Frances Hodgson was born in Manchester in November 1849, one of five children of a well-to-do manufacturer. After the death of her father the family fell upon hard times and in 1865 they emigrated to America. Frances, however, was not to forget about her life in Manchester and her first novel, Lass o’ Lowries (1877) tells of working-class life in Manchester.
It was while deciding on the lay-out for her garden at her home in Long Island that Frances conceived and wrote The Secret Garden (1911), probably her best and most enduring work. In it the garden acts as a means of health and as a symbol of the growing personality. She continued to write up until her death in 1924, a few weeks short of her seventy-fifth birthday.

Fatimah Busu is an award-winning Malaysian novelist, short-story writer, and academic. Born in 1943 in Kampung Pasir Pekan, Kelantan, she is considered one of the most formidable Malay women writers of her generation. Her award-winning short stories include Mawar Yang Belum Gugur (1971), Nasinya Tumpah (1972), and Anak-anak dari Kampung Pasir Pekan (1975). Her first novel, Ombak Bukan Biru, was published to acclaim in 1977, and was followed by other notable novels including Kepulangan (1980) and Salam Maria (2004). Fatimah is also known for her essays on comparative literature and literary criticism. Fatimah is the recipient of several literary awards including the Kelantan State Laureate in 2015. She rejected the prestigious SEA Write Award as a protest against the violence against Muslim communities in South Thailand. Fatimah is considered a somewhat controversial figure by mainstream literary circles, for her strong views and acute portrayals of the inner contradictions of Malay society.
Pauline Fan is a writer, literary translator and cultural researcher. She is creative director of cultural organisation PUSAKA and contributing editor of Mekong Review. Pauline’s translation of poems by Sarawak poet Kulleh Grasi, Tell Me, Kenyalang (Circumference Books, 2019), was shortlisted in the United States for the National Translation Award in Poetry and longlisted for the Best Translated Book Awards in 2020. Pauline’s literary translations from German to Malay include works by Immanuel Kant, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Paul Celan. Her prolific writings on culture and literature have been published in various international and local publications, including Axon: Creative Explorations, Mekong Review, Words Without Borders, Commonwealth Writers’ adda magazine, Esquire Malaysia, New Straits Times, Svara, and Dewan Sastera. Alongside Heather Green and Shook, she is a judge for the 2023 National Translation Award in Poetry. Pauline holds a Masters in German Literature from the University of Oxford.

Edith Nesbit was born in 1858. Her father died when she was only three and so her family moved all over England. Poverty was something she had known first hand, both as a child and as a young married woman with small children. Like the Railway Childrens’ Mother, she was forced to try and sell her stories and poems to editors. Her first children’s book, The Treasure Seekers, was published in 1899. She also wrote Five Children and It but her most famous story is The Railway Children which was first published in 1905 and it hasn’t been out of print since. Edith Nesbit was a lady ahead of her time – she cut her hair short, which was considered a very bold move in Victorian times, and she was a founding member of a group that worked towards improvements in politics and society called The Fabian Society. She died in 1924.