Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Magic in the mundane
Life, Sawarin Suwichakornpong, Published on 02/08/2019
» Hailing from Chon Buri, Duanwad Pimwana is one of Thailand's best known fiction writers. Acclaimed for her imaginative takes on the realities of Thai society, Duanwad has authored numerous literary works, including novels, poetry, short stories and writings that mostly blend elements of magic with social realism that aim to highlight the socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures behind them. Bright, or Changsamran in Thai, Duanwad's first feature novel, won the prestigious SEA Write Award in 2003. By the time it was released in America last year, Bright was the first book by a Thai woman writer translated into English. The book is translated by Mui Poopoksakul, a Berlin-based translator who has done a remarkable job in translating the mundane into the magical.
The lives of others
Life, Sawarin Suwichakornpong, Published on 07/06/2019
» Born in 1969 to a farming family in Chon Buri, Pimjai Juklin -- aka Duanwad Pimwana -- is one of Thailand's preeminent writers of contemporary fiction. After briefly working as a journalist, Duanwad started writing short stories. She was first published in 1989 in a local Thai magazine. In 2003, she published her first novel, Chang Samran (Bright), which won the SEA Write Award, making her one of only seven women writers to have won the prestigious award since its inception 40 years ago.
City of angels and demons
Life, Sawarin Suwichakornpong, Published on 22/03/2019
» You can leave the place where you were born, but it never truly leaves you. It's always there, calling you home.
Overcoming the racial divide
Life, Sawarin Suwichakornpong, Published on 26/04/2018
» Shakespeare writes in The Winter's Tale that "there were no age between 10 and three-and-20, or that youth would sleep out the rest". Adolescence, or the marked "teenage years", encompass elements of biological growth and major social transformation, both of which are decidedly products of nature and culture. The time between youth and maturity can be sorrowful, hard, fun, sad and amazing. It never fails to inspire writers of fiction, to attempt to unravel the complexities of this concept of life. Charting into the unknown is always a favourite subject of those who write.
The good part is ... Prabda, in English
Life, Sawarin Suwichakornpong, Published on 07/04/2017
» Loneliness is a quiet dilemma. Many of Edward Hopper's celebrated paintings are a testament to this truism. In New York Movie, for example, the painting splits into halves. The left side depicts a movie theatre with silhouettes of viewers and what's being shown on the screen. We are, however, drawn to the right: An usherette, tall, lean, blonde, has her left hand supporting her elbow, her chin touching her right hand. Her pensive gesture suggests she is far away from the wall that separates her from the moviegoers. She probably has seen the movie countless times but her countenance compels us to wonder what is taking place in her mind.