The literary world has seen a gradual, but sure, growth in the 21st century. Especially in more recent years, there has been a spotlight on books that narrate immigrant experiences and transcultural tales – acclaimed books from authors such as Ocean Vuong, Lee Min Jin, and Kazuo Ishiguro will help ring a bell.
In Malaysia, we have our own array of budding and seasoned authors contributing to the growing diversity of the literary scene that transcends all borders. If you’re looking to delve into the rich prose and captivating stories of our local writers, we’ve rounded up 10 Malaysian authors and highlighted some of their most notable books to immerse yourself in.
Table of Contents
- Malaysian authors & their books
- 1. Tan Twan Eng, The Gift Of Rain (2007)
- 2. Hanna Alkaf, The Weight Of Our Sky (2019)
- 3. Zen Cho, Sorcerer To The Crown (2015)
- 4. Yangsze Choo, The Ghost Bride (2013)
- 5. Kamalia Hasni, An Ocean Of Grey (2018)
- 6. Rani Manicka, The Rice Mother (2002)
- 7. Cassandra Khaw, Nothing But Blackened Teeth (2021)
- 8. Tash Aw, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005)
- 9. M. Shanmughalingam, Marriage And Mutton Curry (2018)
- 10. YZ Chin, Though I Get Home (2018)
- Malaysian authors and their notable books
1. Tan Twan Eng, The Gift Of Rain (2007)
Image credit: Tatler Asia
Born in Penang and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Tan Twan Eng is a widely-celebrated Malaysian novelist who graduated as a lawyer before he became a full-fledged writer. In fact, he began writing his debut novel The Gift of Rain (2007) while studying for a master’s degree in law at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
The novel tells a riveting story of a young man caught in the crosshairs of wartime loyalties and deceits. It even earned a spot on the long-list for the The Booker Prize, and has been translated into several languages including Italian, Hungarian, and Spanish.
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Another acclaimed book from Tan is The Garden Of Evening Mists (2012), which further solidified his prominence as a mainstream literary writer. For those curious, the novel is a historical fiction set in the misty mountains of Cameron Highlands, weaving war, love, and memory while highlighting a dark moment in history with incredible beauty.
Tan was granted a slew of notable prizes for this novel, which was even adapted into a gorgeous film of the same name in 2019.
Fans of the Malaysian author can look forward to his first new release in almost a decade titled The House Of Doors, set to be published sometime in mid-2023.
2. Hanna Alkaf, The Weight Of Our Sky (2019)
Image credit: Hanna Alkaf
Young adult fantasy is quite a rare breed in the local literary scene. After all, a genre that blends teenage romance, supernatural elements, and dystopian backdrops isn’t the easiest one to write in – especially with a target group of young readers. But Hanna Alkaf doesn’t just do this right. She does it exceptionally well. Malaysian authors
Image credit: @libraryofdreaming
With a degree in journalism from Northwestern University, and a handful of writing jobs under her belt, Alkaf is no doubt an experienced and talented writer. She has a knack for creating stories and characters that readers can relate to even in a mythical world, whilst incorporating elements that are unapologetically Malaysian in her novels.
Her debut work, The Weight Of Our Sky (2019), follows an OCD-diagnosed teenager on a mission to get to her mother during the horrifying racial riots in Malaysia on 13th May 1969. The novel even won her a Freeman Book Awards for Young Adult/High School Literature the same year.
Image adapted from: @by.merakit, @hanna.alkaf
An equally emotionally-layered novel, The Girl and The Ghost, was published by HarperCollins in August 2020. This story taps into the themes of coming-of-age, fantasy, and friendship. Alkaf followed this up with another young adult page-turner – this time a murder mystery titled Queen Of The Tiles that’s set at a Scrabble tournament in Malaysia, and reminiscent of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit.
The supernatural elements in Alkaf’s novels make them intriguing reads for an international and younger audience keen to discover more about the culture of Malaysia, including local folktales.
3. Zen Cho, Sorcerer To The Crown (2015)
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Best known for her British Fantasy Award-winning Sorcerer To The Crown series, Zen Cho is a Birmingham-based author with a deft talent of weaving complex storylines in the captivating world of nuanced interpersonal relationships.
The Cambridge law graduate turned author initially debuted on the literary scene with a collection of short stories called Spirits Abroad, which made her the first Malaysian to snag the William L. Crawford Award. Written in descriptive prose and with an alluring commentary, the anthology offers an insight to the interference of spirits in a mundane Malaysian life.
Image credit: @libraryofdreaming
Cho continued to blow readers away with her enthralling writing style. In 2018, she published a novelette If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again which won the Hugo Award. Subsequently, she released a family wuxia fantasy called The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected In Water (2020) that effectively incorporates elements of the supernatural in a slice-of-life tale.
Image credit: Carousell Malaysia
Black Water Sister (2021) is Cho’s latest novel that narrates an intense family drama disguised as a paranormal happening, set against the backdrop of Penang. A spooky tale with a whole lot of local trances, the local guardian spirit Datuk Kong, and other possessive spirits, the book offers a mischievous balance of fantasy and reality like in most of her works – with compelling plots that’ll both thrill and terrify readers.
4. Yangsze Choo, The Ghost Bride (2013)
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The brilliant author behind The New York Times best-selling novel The Ghost Bride (2013), Yangsze Choo needs no introduction in the Malaysian literary scene. Upon graduating from the prestigious Harvard University, Choo worked in various corporate jobs before becoming a full-time writer.
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Featuring a forced “ghost marriage” of a young woman in colonial Melaka, Choo’s first novel The Ghost Bride is a whimsically written work of art that fuses a tale of romance with Chinese folklore and supernatural twists. Arguably her most iconic work to date, the book was selected as part of Oprah Winfrey’s “Book Of The Week” and later adapted into a Netflix series in 2020 following its breakthrough success.
Image credit: IMDb
Her second novel, The Night Tiger (2019), is yet another fantastical historical fiction about a dancehall girl and an orphan boy whose fates entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers. Tantalising, dazzling, and lushly written, the novel earned the recognition it wholly deserves – becoming Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club Pick, Amazon’s Spotlight Pick, and a Book of the Month Club selection, as well as one of the best books of the year on Amazon.
Image credit: YS Choo
5. Kamalia Hasni, An Ocean Of Grey (2018)
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Hailing from the world of poetry and poems, Kamalia Hasni – who also goes by Malie – is a budding Malaysian writer with a knack of evoking emotions from her readers with the gorgeous simplicity of her words.
Image credit: @maliemania
Residing in the UK, the emerging poet published her first poetry book titled An Ocean of Grey in 2018. In the captivating poetry collection, Hasni delves into the themes of pain and heartbreak as an aftermath of love – it’s a soothing letter for those ailed with a broken heart.
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As a continuation of her first book, Hasni released another collection of poetry and prose called A Wave of Dreams in 2020, in which she explores the complexities of emotions and the journey towards healing and self-discovery.
Unparalleled in her lyricism and profound in the way she conveys her thoughts, Hasni’s collection of poetry leaves a lasting effect on her readers. Her books are ones that you’ll want to keep on your nightstand to revisit every now and then.
6. Rani Manicka, The Rice Mother (2002)
Image credit: Good Books Guide
There have been a smattering of richly told multigenerational stories in Southeast Asia – such as Pachinko and The Joy Luck Club – that are immersive panoramas of Asian culture. And The Rice Mother (2002) is one of them. The luminous and searing debut novel by Malaysian-born novelist, Rani Manicka, even won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2003.
Infused with Manicka’s own Sri Lankan Tamil family history, the novel tells of a 14-year-old Lakshmi who is married off to a 37-year-old widower in Malaysia after being beguiled by promises of his wealth.
When she finds that her husband is neither rich nor reliable, Lakshmi struggles to raise six children through World War II and the Japanese occupation of Malaysia. The story shifts between perspectives of different family members of different generations, with genuine intimacy and poignant storytelling.
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In 2005, Manicka’s second novel Touching Earth was published and was followed by The Japanese Lover in 2009. Remarked by Publishers Weekly as an “epic tale of love, loss, and cosmic destiny in her gripping and eloquent third novel”, The Japanese Lover dives into an engrossing romance during the wartime in Japanese-occupied Malaya. But it’s also more than that – it’s a rich historical retelling, with compelling cultural elements weaved into the plot.
7. Cassandra Khaw, Nothing But Blackened Teeth (2021)
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The Malaysian literary world has its fair share of historical fiction and family sagas. But if you’re one for spine-tingling tales dipped in haunting elements of horror and eerie spirits, Cassandra Khaw’s works will make your blood curdle and your hair stand. Malaysian authors
Khaw is a Malaysian writer and a USA Today bestselling author of horror and science fiction for video games and tabletop RPGs. She also has an impressive array of short stories published in magazines such as Tor.com, Clarkesworld, Fireside Fiction, Uncanny Magazine, and Nature.
Image credit: @casskhaw
One of her most notable horror releases is a novella sinisterly titled Nothing But Blackened Teeth (2021), which is set in an abandoned Heian-era Japanese mansion said to be built on the bones of a bride. If that’s not bone-chilling enough, the walls of the said mansion is packed with the remains of girls sacrificed to keep the bride company.
Image credit: @casskhaw
The Salt Grows Heavy (2023) is Khaw’s most recent book that’s like no other – it’s a bewitching fairy tale that’s far from the sugary-sweet ones that we’re familiar with. A piercingly dark take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, the novel follows a mermaid and a mysterious plague doctor who stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood – and the three “saints” who control them.
As enthralling as they are terrifying, Khaw’s works will have you recoiling in horror. And aching for more.
8. Tash Aw, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005)
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An award-winning novelist and a major contemporary literary figure in Southeast Asia, Tash Aw is a Malaysian writer based in London with a flair for conveying the realities of societal classes with a bewitching narrative style.
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Aw wowed with his weighty debut in 2005, the critically acclaimed novel called The Harmony Silk Factory. It recounts the life of a Chinese textile merchant in Malaysia during the British colonial years through the eyes of three other narrators.
Stirring readers and exciting critics, the novel is evocatively insightful, and garnered a handful of awards including the Whitbread First Novel Award, a regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and also the world’s prestigious 2007 International Impac Dublin Award. Malaysian authors
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He released his second novel Map of the Invisible World in 2019 – which tells an emotive tale about two orphaned and separated brothers. It received rave reviews, with The Guardian calling the book “haunting and memorable”, and Time magazine praising it as “a complex, gripping drama with Aw’s matchless descriptive prose, immense intelligence and empathy”.
Other works from Aw include Five Star Billionaire (2013) and a nonfiction love letter to Malaysia named The Face: Strangers on a Pier (2016). The latter was the finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. His novels have been long listed for the Man Booker Prize twice, and translated into a whopping total of 23 languages.
9. M. Shanmughalingam, Marriage And Mutton Curry (2018)
Image credit: Tatler Asia
Dato’ Dr M. Shanmughalingam, also known as Shan, has been making waves in the local literary scene as he delivers slices of Malaysian life and culture in his writings. With over 30 national and international anthologies that consist of his short stories and poems, Shan finally released a book affectionately titled Marriage And Mutton Curry (2018). It comprises a collection of previously published favourites and new tales.
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Sprinkled with gentle satire and told with a sharp-witted voice, the stories utilise Malaysians’ fierce love for food as a metaphor for the milieu of daily life. From tales in the Jaffna Tamil community to commentaries surrounding feminism in past decades, the book’s themes are compelling yet humorous – with familiar slangs and cheeky jokes about the Malaysian community.
Hearty, deliciously-told, and packed with wit, the book is just like a pot of piping hot mutton curry – explosive, stimulating, and definitely not lacking in taste, humour, and emotions.
10. YZ Chin, Though I Get Home (2018)
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Born and raised in Taiping in Perak, Malaysia, YZ Chin is a New York Times Editor’s Choice writer who works in New York as a software engineer by day and author by night.
Taking pride in being an immigrant writer, Chin gets honest about Malaysian life and the interplay of the personal and the political in her debut collection of linked stories, Though I Get Home (2018). Rebellious yet necessary, the book won the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and an Asian/Pacific American Award For Literature title.
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With an interesting premise surrounding a Malaysian expat living in New York City whose husband goes missing, Edge Case (2021) was Chin’s next release. It’s a poignant portrait of a woman of colour living in a broken society, and a compelling and dark tale of her complicated journey to self-discovery.
Chin’s stories are wonderfully immersive, painfully realistic, and written with words from a quiet heart bursting with compassion – they’ll open your eyes to an apathetic society that we helped create.
From bold adventures in fantasy worlds to thought-provoking tales peppered with elements of Malaysian culture, our nation’s literary landscape is blossoming with genres and forms that’ll leave you pondering about life.
So, add these book titles to your ever-growing TBR list – and expand your world with honest stories, thrilling tales, and stirring perspectives crafted by these talented Malaysian authors.
Read more here:
- 10 places for free and cheap books in Klang Valley
- 8 mythical creatures from Malaysian folklores and legends
Cover image adapted from: @acapricronreads, @elvinareads & @michyreadsthenwrites