By Tania Jayatilaka, Tatler
Mar 04, 2024
Source: Tatler
There’s nothing quite like a good work of fiction to transport you to imaginary worlds vastly different from the familiarity of your own surroundings. But in the past decade or so, numerous Malaysian authors have come to the forefront, proving that Malaysian stories and experiences have a place in the cultural zeitgeist both locally and abroad.… Read more
Interview by Wasafiri, School of English and Drama Queen Mary, University of London
July 2, 2020
Source: wasafiri.org
Bernice Chauly is a Malaysian novelist, poet, educator and former director of the George Town Literary Festival. She has published seven books of poetry and prose: going there and coming back (1997), The Book of Sins (2008), Lost in KL (2008), the acclaimed memoir Growing Up With Ghosts (2011), Onkalo (2013), her debut novel Once We Were There (2017) and most recently, her fourth poetry collection, Incantations/Incarcerations (2019).… Read more
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
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