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An Ordinary Tale About Women and Other Stories

Fatimah Busu
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This collection offers a selection of short stories by Fatimah Busu, one of the foremost Malay women writers of the past century. A master of the short story form, Fatimah Busu is known for her bold subject matter, fresh approach to language, and idiosyncratic style. Her short stories offer an acute portrayal of the inner contradictions of Malay society, particularly the realities of women and men in rural Malaysia grappling with the forces of tradition and modernity, and the frailty of the human condition. The strong subjectivity and agency of women characters in her stories, as well as the unique perspective of children, offers a powerful counter-narrative to the literary landscape of Malay fiction dominated by male writers. Many of Fatimah Busu’s stories are set in her hometown of Kampung Pasir Pekan, Kelantan and are imbued with the vivid peculiarities of Kelantanese dialect, sensibility, and everyday life.

Translated from Malay by Pauline Fan, the ten short stories gathered here span from Fatimah Busu’s early work in the 1960s and 70s, to the height of her creative powers in the 1980s, into her mature period in the 1990s. This collection features a few of Fatimah Busu’s iconic short stories and several lesser known stories which underscore her distinctiveness of style and subject matter. Fatimah Busu’s evocative fiction blurs the boundaries of social realism, dreamscapes, apocalyptic visions, reimagined mythology, and magic realism. The stories gathered here have been translated into English for the first time.

Published: Dec/2024

ISBN: 9789815204667

Length: 224 Pages

An Ordinary Tale About Women and Other Stories

Fatimah Busu

This collection offers a selection of short stories by Fatimah Busu, one of the foremost Malay women writers of the past century. A master of the short story form, Fatimah Busu is known for her bold subject matter, fresh approach to language, and idiosyncratic style. Her short stories offer an acute portrayal of the inner contradictions of Malay society, particularly the realities of women and men in rural Malaysia grappling with the forces of tradition and modernity, and the frailty of the human condition. The strong subjectivity and agency of women characters in her stories, as well as the unique perspective of children, offers a powerful counter-narrative to the literary landscape of Malay fiction dominated by male writers. Many of Fatimah Busu’s stories are set in her hometown of Kampung Pasir Pekan, Kelantan and are imbued with the vivid peculiarities of Kelantanese dialect, sensibility, and everyday life.

Translated from Malay by Pauline Fan, the ten short stories gathered here span from Fatimah Busu’s early work in the 1960s and 70s, to the height of her creative powers in the 1980s, into her mature period in the 1990s. This collection features a few of Fatimah Busu’s iconic short stories and several lesser known stories which underscore her distinctiveness of style and subject matter. Fatimah Busu’s evocative fiction blurs the boundaries of social realism, dreamscapes, apocalyptic visions, reimagined mythology, and magic realism. The stories gathered here have been translated into English for the first time.

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback
Amazon

Fatimah Busu

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.