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Malaysia

The covers of the books featured in the list
The Best Books of 2022—And What We’re Looking Forward to in 2023
By Words Without Borders
Our staff, contributors, and board members share their favorite translated books of the year and the titles they’re looking forward to in 2023.
A rusty lighter sitting in the dirt
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash
After Time
By Fahd Razy
Today, you finally saw the earth after its rebirth.
Translated from Malay by Adibah Abdullah
yellow smoke curling against a black background
Photo by Олег Жилко on Unsplash
kretek-ing
By Zahid M. Naser
bloodrush like the swell of desire in a room / surging higher and higher to my eyes, craving life
Translated from Malay by Pauline Fan
MultimediaMultilingual
Various wooden letter blocks
Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash
9 Writers to Read on International Mother Language Day
By the Editors of Words Without Borders
We highlight 9 writers working in their heritage languages, from Galician and Cebuano to Guaraní and Kaaps.
Multimedia
The Voices of Contact Languages in Asia: An Introduction
By Stefanie Shamila Pillai
For multilingual writers, choosing to write in their heritage languages can be seen as an expression of agency, an active choice to communicate in a nondominant language.
The Gut Demons
By Melaka Portuguese Oral Tradition
“When you go in search of food, you must do so at night, and you must only go with your head and intestines.”
Translated from Melaka Portuguese by Sara Frederica Santa Maria
Multilingual
Pantun
By Nironjini Pillay, Shagina Bhalan, Nadarajan Mudalier & Mahendran Pillay
We are known as the Chetti of Melaka, / Guardians of tradition and culture.
Translated from Chetti Malay by Nurul Huda Hamzah & Stefanie Shamila Pillai
MultimediaMultilingual
The Slow Burn of Inner Chaos: Six Works in Translation from Malaysia
By Pauline Fan & Adriana Nordin Manan
The sense of slipping slowly into chaos is an everyday reality here.
Dark as a Boy
By Ho Sok Fong
Pretty much everyone knew Saw Ai’s family had problems.
Translated from Chinese by Natascha Bruce
Mona Fandey’s Cassette, or Gray Feather
By M. Navin
Who would smile like that after such a thing?
Translated from Tamil by Sreedhevi Iyer
Sinarut 1994
By Alis Padasian
Why couldn’t Mama just leave Father?
Translated from Malay and Dusun by Siti Malini Mat
Monsoon Fable
By Jack Malik
frog cries saturate. life inundates. crane stares blacken. death curdles. ancestral winds whirl.
Translated from Malay by Thira Mohamad
MultimediaMultilingual
The Lovers of Muharram
By Fatimah Busu
On this terrible morning, everything is relentless.
Translated from Malay by Pauline Fan
Poem in June
By T. Alias Taib
a field stretches, a pilgrim shuffles in despair
Translated from Malay by Eddin Khoo
MultimediaMultilingual
Theo
By Fahmi Mustaffa
I'm not like you, Pak.
Translated from Malay by Adriana Nordin Manan
The Thrill of Reading Obliviously
By J. R. Ramakrishnan
A translated work’s pitch is aided by comparisons.
Fragile States: Artwork from freeDimensional
By freeDimensional
A visual exploration of the physical and psychological experiences of persecution and forced displacement.
Multimedia