By Tania Jayatilaka, Tatler
October 15, 2018
Source: Tatler
A year after Bernice Chauly’s first novel ‘Once We Were There’ was officially launched at the Cooler Lumpur Festival, the award-winning author and George Town Literary Festival Director shares several insights on her craft and the importance of arts and culture in Malaysia today.… Read more
By Kate Mayberry for the Mekong Review
Issue 12, August 2018
Source: mekongreview.com
Photo: Kenny Loh
On the eve of Malaysia’s May election, Bernice Chauly finally sat down to watch Mahathir Mohamad deliver a campaign speech.
Over the previous fortnight, the former strongman turned leader of the sometimes fractious opposition coalition had been criss-crossing the country — from the northern state of Kedah one moment, to Johor in the south the next — regaling enthusiastic crowds with tales of a ruling party so corrupted by power that it had brought the country to its knees.… Read more
Here is an interview with author Bernice Chauly, taken from a BBC World Service programme called The Cultural Frontline
In Bernice’s book, Once We Were There— which won the Penang Monthly Book Prize 2017 — the Reformasi political movement of the 1990s was used as a backdrop to the story of a reporter navigating the underbelly of Kuala Lumpur.… Read more
… Read more“This is a win for culture, for literature, for free speech and expression. This is a win for discourse, diversity and conversation. This is a win for Penang, for George Town, for all who love literary festivals and for all who love our festival.
Bernice Chauly’s ‘Once We Were There’ wins 2nd prize in the Fiction Category at the 2018 Readers Choice Awards.
Bernice Chauly’s ‘Once We Were There’ wins the Penang Monthly Book Prize for November 2017. The book was awarded in the ‘Excellence in Fiction’ category.
New novel depicts the hedonism and idealism of Reformasi-era Kuala Lumpur
By Marco Ferrarese for the Nikkei Asian Review
Published 26 October, 2017
Source: https://s.nikkei.com/2F5hbef
Author Bernice Chauly reads from her new novel “Once We Were There” in Singapore on June 29.… Read more
Race, religion, politics, corruption, sex – nothing is off limits for Bernice Chauly in Once We Were There, a daring page-turner, framed by events of Reformasi movement, about a mother in Kuala Lumpur caught up in rapid social change
By Salil Tripathi for the South China Morning Post
4.5/5 stars
Source: scmp.com… Read more
(From left to right: The three different covers of Bernice Chauly’s novel, Once We Were There, for Singapore, Malaysia and the UK.)
Synopsis:
Journalist Delonix Regia chances upon the cultured and irresistible Omar amidst the upheaval of the Reformasi movement in Kuala Lumpur.… Read more
“On the Map” is a series of interviews with writers while they are in Iowa City participating in the International Writing Program’s fall residency. The series is produced by the IWP at the University of Iowa and is made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S.… Read more