Southeast Asia-related treats
Southeast Asia’s literature is as rich and diverse as the region itself, but unfortunately, there’s still a dearth of books for children by Southeast Asian authors translated into English. Even when they are written in English by Southeast Asian writers, such as the books by Singaporean Shamini Flint and Malaysian Margaret Lim, they rarely find their way into the US or other English-speaking countries. It’s fairly easy to find factual books or folktale retellings, but the majority of the books in English related to the region are written by European or American authors.
PaperTigers this week joins many other bloggers on a virtual tour of children’s literature from/about Southeast Asia by pointing readers to reviews and blog posts written by our team:
Former PaperTigers blog contributor Janet Brown has looked closely at the book Happiness of Kati, by Thai writer Jane Vejjajiva. Aimed at 12+ year-olds, the book was the first children’s book to win the S.E.A. Write Award, given to the best literature by Southeast Asians. Read Janet’s three posts about the book (1, 2, 3), as she gets deeper into this beautifully layered story of a Thai girl and her family. And for an interesting look at the world of children’s books in Thailand, read the transcript of a paper by Jane Vejjajiva, presented at the IBBY Congress, in 2008.
Reviewed by Charlotte, The Killing Sea (Simon & Schuster) by lifelong Bali resident Richard Lewis is a fictionalized account of the impact of the 2004 Tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, particularly on the lives of two teenagers caught up in the tragedy. Lewis’ The Flame Tree, also set in Indonesia in post 9/11, is another important title, as it helps dispel stereotypes, especially common since then, about the Islamic world.
The Bee Tree, written by Stephen Buchmann and Diana Cohn, illustrated by Paul Mirocha (Cinco Puntos), is a coming-of-age story that blends “myth, geography, and harvest and Islamic rituals to create a rich tapestry of multicultural experiences”.
The round-up of the Southeast Asia blog tour, with links to all participating posts, will be posted at Chasing Ray on Wednesday, August 12th (which means bloggers still have time to send in their posts!). We are looking forward to finding out what others have contributed to the feast!
August 11th, 2009 at 1:10 am
Oh, I’m so glad I read this post and found the book about Kati! I work for a small publishing house in Sweden that focuses on translating fiction for children and young adults from other parts of the world than the US and the UK (which really dominate the market for translated books) and we have really longed to find a Thai book that we could publish. This one seems perfect! I’m really grateful for the Internet…
August 11th, 2009 at 4:07 am
It is great to be reminded about the books out there for older readers – thank you, Aline.
Anna, if you’re looking for Thai books to translate, I blogged about one I found at the Bologna Book Fair in 2008, which looked absolutely gorgeous – I just couldn’t read it, unfortunately: scroll down to the end of the post and read the comments… Chalisa was able to tell us about it and it sounds utterly charming.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Thanks!
August 12th, 2009 at 6:15 am
These are some great finds. I set out to find literature for YA from this region, and had a really hard time finding anything but picture books and easy readers with a social studies tone. These are great.
August 12th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Tanita. I’m glad you found some good leads here. Congratulations on the release of “Mare’s War,” by the way! It’s on my list of books to read before the end of Summer : )
August 12th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
[...] has been posting regular updates as she gets more links, so check often!). PaperTigers is in with a post highlighting some gems related to the region, and PaperTigers itself is featured in an interview at [...]
October 15th, 2009 at 2:56 am
Margaret Lim is currently building her blog: margaretlim.wordpress.com . There is some information on her children’s books and she is going to put her books online on her blog. Her blog is still under construction, but start bookmarking it!
October 15th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Thanks for letting us know about Margaret Lim’s blog, Einhard. It’s bookmarked!
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:52 am
very interesting n creative…..liked it!!
November 25th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Thanks,Aline and rajshree. Do continue to check my blog as the World turns. You might find some more interesting things.
March 26th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Hope this will be a inspiration to budding translators. There is much Indian liturature which deserves the attention of English readers. The “Panchatantra”, and “Chanakya” are the famous books which have been translated in many languages but still there are many more.
- Mathew J.