Malaysian literature in spotlight
As strong a start to the year as any, Malaysia features in the magazine, offering the world a window into our rich and diverse literary scene
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (MNTV) – In the January 2026 issue of World Literature Today, an American magazine dedicated to international literature and culture, Malaysia takes the spotlight, with homegrown writers reflecting on the country’s literary landscape – celebrating its strengths while also pointing to where change and reform are needed, reports ANN.
As strong a start to the year as any, Malaysia features in the magazine, offering the world a window into our rich and diverse literary scene.
The feature, titled “Reading In Malaysia: Literature Beyond Erasure”, opens with an introduction by award-winning author and sociolinguist Dipika Mukherjee, and includes essays by PEN Malaysia president Mahi Ramakrishnan, Buku Fixi founder, writer and filmmaker Amir Muhammad, and translator Pauline Fan, who is also cultural organization Pusaka’s creative director.
Reflecting the essays’ overarching concerns, Dipika writes: “Only by confronting the uneasy balance between creative freedom and social regulation can Malaysian literature fully claim its place as something daring, honest, and resonant.”
Amir’s essay, marked by his signature tongue-in-cheek humor, reflects on his years as an independent publisher. “I started publishing books in 2007, and, although it’s unseemly to keep such a strict count on these things, I think the total number of notches on my belt so far is about 350. Out of these, four titles have been banned,” he writes.
The four titles – Cekik (Choke) by Ridhwan Saidi, Aku (I) by Shaz Johar, Punai by Asyraf Bakti, and Kougar: 2 by Shaz Johar – form a mnemonic Amir spontaneously devised when asked which of his books had been banned. He recalls initially fearing police raids the first time this happened but now regards bans as an occupational hazard.
Book bans
Quoting Singaporean intellectual Cherian George on how authoritarian leaders use censorship as a reminder of their power, Amir reflects on balancing government grants with the risk of book bans, claiming that bans have not influenced his publishing decisions.
“Along the way, yes, we will sometimes get banned and sometimes lose money (guess which option is scarier), but what’s the alternative? Getting a real job?” he adds.
Fan, who last year won the inaugural PEN Presents x International Booker Prize for translating Sabahan author Ruhaini Matdarin’s The Last Days of Jesselton from Bahasa Malaysia to English, offers a vivid glimpse into the world of secondhand Bahasa Malaysia books, a niche thriving among online collectors.
She was drawn into this world while seeking works by Kelantan-born writer Fatimah Busu, most of which are out of print.
The volumes she secured became part of An Ordinary Tale About Women And Other Stories, published by Penguin Random House SEA in 2024.
Fan reflects on the early days of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), during the heyday of literary figures such as Usman Awang, A. Samad Said, and Shahnon Ahmad, calling it “a revolutionary force” whose fire has dimmed under bureaucracy.
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