The “phenomenal” Rahmat Haron, one of our Malaysian contributors, is almost impossible to translate. So much of his poetry is rooted in his innovations with the Malay language. But we like to challenge ourselves. We already have a few up our sleeves. And we’re putting this up on the blog, so there’s escape now.
You can see his (more conventional?) performance of “Keranamu Malaysia” (“Because of you, Malaysia”) on Youtube.
[Above photo © Yee I-lann, 2004]
Along with several exciting young Southeast Asian artists, we are also considering works by Tao artists for the cover and interior art of the anthology. One of the Tao artists on our list is Flying Fish (born 1970). Some of his work can be viewed on his Xuite webpage, Flying Fish Cafe.
[Above image originally posted on Flying Fish Cafe. Artwork © Flying Fish, the artist. Flying fish, the fish, are revered by the Tao and form an important staple food.]
Some time ago one of our Paiwan friends, musician and aboriginal culture activist Red-I, emailed us news of a very exciting project by the Tao. Below is an excerpt from his email:
[Tao] tribesmen constructed a traditional boat (ipanga na; they haven’t built one in over 100 yrs) and made a voyage from Lanyu (Orchid Island) to [Taitung] … in preparation for their voyage back to Batanes [the northernmost and the smallest province of the Philippines] in order to keep [a] tradition from completely dying. … [No] one alive has ever made the trip, but some of the elders still have the oceanic knowledge of the “black current” that runs between Taiwan and [the Philippines] (which is how them used to travel between the 2 islands!) So this journey is very important for them in order to keep the connections alive!
In an interview with the Taipei Times, one of the rowers, Maraos (瑪拉歐斯), relates how he was weened on stories of a great seafaring nation of islands that shared the same language and culture as his own—the Tao. The project is known as Keep Rowing (繼續划船), an effort by the Tao people to relive an ancient voyage and reconnect with the Ivatan, the people of the Batanes. For this project, the Tao built Ipanga na 1001. Ipanga na in Tao means moving, crossing over, navigation, from here to there and further. They started construction on November 2006 and finished in May 2007. Ipanga na 1001 is the largest Tao wooden boat ever built in a century and the first to reach Taiwan in living memory. Batanes, 100 km south of Lanyu, formed part of the legendary nation spoken of by Maraos’s ancestors. The journey to Batanes next year will be one of the most important events in the history of the Tao and Ivatan. Maraos in the Taipei Times: “These are our people. We speak the same language and we share the same culture … This is my … and Lanyu people’s dreams.”
[Photo on right by casyc23. Reposted from I-fan Lin's Global Voices post. The red and black circle at the head of the boat is "mata-no-tarara," (eye and sun) traditional Tao symbols believed to expel evil spirits and evoke good fortunes.]
Related links:
Keep Rowing (繼續划船) blog (only in traditional Chinese text)
I-fan Lin’s Keep Rowing posts and translations at Global Voices Online
Austronesian adventurer revives Aboriginal traditions
Tao tribesmen get hero’s welcome at Tamsui Wharf
Tao aborigines paddle fishing canoe to Taipei
Patagaw Blogspot
Red-I’s Myspace
Marie Angeline Liquigan’s short introductory write-up on the Ivatan
We would like to acknowledge Jay Koh of Artstream Myanmar / NICA (Networking + Initiatives for Culture and the Arts) and IFIMA (International Forum for InterMedia Art) for his continued support for this project. Jay’s now back in Yangon and currently helping us look for translators and artwork we can use for the anthology. Kudos, Jay!
The Autumn issue of Art Journal is featuring some of Jay’s photos of Burma, including those done by his partner and principal collaborator, Malaysian-born artist Chu Yuan.
[Photo on right, from Art Journal. Chu Yuan and Myanmar/Burmese collaborators, Offering of Mind:Indian Young Professional) preformed photography in front of Swedagon temple and park grounds, Yangon/Rangoon, 2005, (artwork © Chu Yuan, photograph by Chu Yuan)]
For those interested in Burmese literature, there are profiles of some contemporary writers and sample writing on the Artstream site, as well as other interesting stuff. Below is an excerpt:
Khet Mar (born 1969) started writing professionally at the age of twenty. So far she has published a novel, a collection of essays and a collections of short stories with three other women writers. Of her works, over a hundred short stories, thirteen novels and three serialised novels had been featured in various magazines. (Photo from University of Iowa’s list of 2007 IWP Participants.)
She washed out her brush and regarded her painting critically: definitely a lot of blues. Blue-gray monsoon clouds over the rippling waters of a river; on the far bank, dark green mountain ranges; a blur of red sky just at the top right edge.
That last ray of fading sun fell on the lone boatman rowing against the current, the muscles of his arms standing out in relief in the light.
A gloomy and dark painting overall, but she had wanted exactly that. It might storm, it might rain, and one might have to row against the current, but then, all one needs is the strength to row. …
[Translated from the Burmese by Ma Thanegi. To read more of Overture, click here.]
One of our Indonesian contributors would rather not have his stuff (re)posted on this blog.
But for all you curious types: i, shatter and thetruthaboutjakarta
—pay these blogs a visit and he will love you forever.
[Above photo from "old flagfall, new triptych" on thetruthaboutjakarta.]
Chamaiporn Bangkombang of the Thai Writers Association has been instrumental in connecting us with a lot of young Thai writers. Several works are now in the process of translation by our trusty volunteer Thai translators Vipavinee Artpradid and Kate Pattamanivat.
Courtesy of Typhoon Books, we also have a short story written and translated by Prabda Yoon and a manga by Wisut Ponnimit. Among many other talents, Wisut is also a self-taught animator. Here’s his music video for インストバンド by Japanese instrumental band SAKEROCK:
A selection of Vietnamese poetry translated by Wikivietlit Editor Linh Đinh will be appearing in the forthcoming anthology. These poems will also be in The Deluge: New Vietnamese Poetry, tentatively scheduled for publication by Chax Press in 2008.
Meanwhile, here’s a sample:
Phan Bá Thọ was born in Da Nang in 1972, and now lives in Ho Chi Minh City. “A faded, empty organism,” he once described himself. After being unemployed for 60 months, 8 days and 4 hours, he’s now working as a lawyer. The author of the samizdats, “Vertical Movement” (2001) and “Endless Trash Pile,” his poems appear regularly in many print and web journals.
Nude Self Portrait
to thuy hang & kim hoa
if only I could slip into the ground [or] run disappearing
into something, it’d be fantastic
yesterday I was stripped naked in the middle of a highway, 80,000 people
like metaphors and are unclear about motives
pity only to the small children who were present
very difficult, lecturing on how to mix a cocktail
with a handful of crooked bones / wrinkled lines
convoluted and sad + plus
the natural rudeness of the curious mob
people inspected my body / up down and sideway randomly
they saw in my armpit… yes, nothing but a forest with trees
straight, chopped down, completely burnt
with two eyes yellowed by beer froth & unbelievably horny, yesterday
I – was – stripped – naked – on – a – mat – torn
ragged & reeking a foul smell
(too many people glorify this filth)
they touched my hair / cheek nose & beckoned others
I saw a group of american soldiers, toying with their mouths
saddam’s hair gleefully
I became jealous of him / I thought, he’s truly happy
those in white coats liked to confirm the dna / because they’ve heard
to be that mad, one must eat horses’ balls
what could they read on my body
they could become wiser than that, a little… yes, if
they’d pry my mouth open
they’d probably see a prick I’ve been sucking for a long time, big and tall, inside
Wei Hui said: this object can spin 360 degrees & should be used
once and thrown away
but I prefer Mian Mian*
[both sort of crazy and sane]
but, very importantly / the marvelous quality in her:
fuck first, pay later / love – being in debt, also good
*Wei Hui and Mian Mian are contemporary Chinese writers
Translated from the Vietnamese by Linh Dinh
[The above poem also appeared in the Brazilian poetry journal SIBILA. So if that whets your appetite, click here for more. Horse balls...yummmm...]
The open call for submissions to the Southeast Asian anthology is closed as of today.
(But we can’t stop you from sending more entries to our inbox now can we? Pray, the brave souls. Maybe, just maybe, you’d make the cut despite the tardiness.)
Southeast Asia has been a region long divided not only by geographical and cultural boundaries but by the question of identity and belonging. One anthology will attempt to present the shades of contemporary Southeast Asian experiences of cultural/sexual identity, globalization, immigrant/expatriate experience, third culture phenomena, and new technologies, among others.
The call for submissions is open to Southeast Asian writers and translators under 40 years old. The anthology will focus on works dealing with contemporary themes, or employing new forms in poetry; prose (fiction, travelogues, essays, blogs, text, etc); drama (one-act plays, short screen/teleplays); graphic arts and comics (under 30 pages long); and everything in between—literary experiments as well as genre works (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, etc, or combinations thereof). Works must be limited to 8,000 words and must be in English (translations must be accompanied by the original text). Previously published works are also welcome.
Please send submissions to this email address sealitbook@gmail.com , as attachments in MS Word document format. Please include a short bionote, email address, photo, web links and contact information, as well as the copyright notice for previously published and soon-to-be published work.
The anthology editors are Francezca Kwe (Philippines), Jerome Kugan (Malaysia), Mervin Espina (Philippines) and Rizadini (Indonesia).
The deadline has been extended to 8 November 2007 for the following countries: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Timor Leste, and for Southeast Asians based abroad.
