By Shaireza Jaafar
Edited by Aleeya Balqis
GOMBAK, 10 May 2024: “Writing is all about honesty, you need to be empathetic and able to put yourself into the experience. Don’t imagine yourself as someone else’s,” said the author of the novel ‘Hades’ which was nominated for the Dublin Literary Awards 2024, Aishah Zainal.
The Secretariat of English Language and Literature (ELITS) organised an event called “Alumni Unplugged”. The event exposes IIUM students to the writing industry through a sharing session with a local author, who is also a BENL alumna, Aishah Zainal. The event was held in the venue ADM LT3 of the Islamic Revealed Knowledge (IRK) building inside the IIUM Gombak campus.
The three-hour event let students delve into the behind-the-scenes process of the production of her novel ‘Hades,’ from a rough idea to finally putting pen to paper. Following this is a reading session of key chapters in the novel, as well as a question-and-answer (Q&A) session after the reading with participants
Sr. Aishah reads an excerpt from one of the chapters
“Hades is a poverty tale about a 16-year-old troublemaker named Kei and his mother who moved into the prototype city of Ipoh in 2012. Together with Maryam, a next-door neighbour, they both formed a strong bond, but their friendship slowly deteriorated as the demons of their past resurface,” asserted Aishah as she started to introduce the novel to the audience.
While unveiling the novel’s title, she explained that the title originates from Greek mythology, a story of how Zeus ruled the sky, Poseidon the seas, and Hades the underworld. These three characters divided the realms by drawing lots. Despite the underworld being seen as the least desirable realm, Hades eventually accepted his fate which depicts the characters of this book who are stoic, this describes how the name ‘Hades’ was chosen.
Although she grew up in Ipoh, Sr. Aishah did a lot of observation and research regarding her city because during the event she mentioned, “you cannot write a character with a sense of ignorance or having no prior knowledge about it.” Furthermore, “you might think a writer should be isolated, but it is the opposite because my engagement with the communities is what aids me in translating my feelings into ideas,” she added.
“You need to read a lot and find authors you resonate with the most. As for me, I resonated the most with John Didion, Margaret Atwood, and Donna Tartt, and from there I sort of copy their writing styles with a blend of mine that over time helps in developing my own,” emphasised Aishah for the students who wish to pursue a career as a future writer.
As a BENL senior, she drops some advice stressing, “you need to excel in every subject because you will never know which one will benefit your career at the end of the day and having good writing skills is a plus for English majors as it is highly necessary today, not only for literary or academic pursuits but other fields as well.”
Ending on a strong note, Sr. Aisyah expressed gratitude to all the lecturers for helping her build her foundation in a literary career, as she said, “now this is the opportunity for me to give back to the department and the university.”
The event concludes with a token of appreciation from ELITS to Sr. Aishah, an official signing, and a photography session with all the participants.***
Photography session with all the participants
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