8/3: happy WOMEN'S DAY to all+a tribute to women writers

seribulan

LOCAL....

Khadijah Hashim..



homepage

http://www.geocities.com/jhs5565/


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Khadijah's Autobiography

Life started when I meet my love of my life.Hassan Muhammad he makes me so happy he's my sweet heart.I've always had a crush on Hassan but never pursued to talk to him or get anyone to help me that's not my style.The next following semseter we had a gym class togther and that's when It all started my life begun.Hassan Is in the service[Army]he ask me to marry him and I said I will . Most people think that I'm making a mistake but no one will still my joy of life being with my pumpkin.My goals of life is to be obedient to by god{Allah},submitt my will to Allah and have fear of Allah.I also want to enlist in the Army and do computer work then take my G.Bill and go to Law School.I've always wanted to do family law because I rather help families then to help convicts.I just have a love to voice my oppinon and help others in the process of voicing my oppinon.

I would like to live in a beatuiful house with a lot of land in my backyard,two story house with a attic,basement,libary/lounge and every thing that comes with a house.I also want a marble kitchen and a marble bathroom.Of course I want to jeeps one,durango and the other a expedition.I know I can get this because of my goals of life .I know I can do anything I put my mind to doing it

http://www.geocities.com/jhs5565/autobio.html

to be continued....

[ Last edited by seribulan at 7-3-2006 02:46 PM ]

seribulan

Comment from http://bookwormer.blogdrive.com/comments?id=2

Entry: Badai Semalam - Khadijah Hashim Wednesday, January 28




Saya memilih untuk tidak menceritakan keseluruhan cerita yang saya baca. Jika saya berbuat demikian, nescaya tiada gunanya mereka di luar sana membeli novel-novel yang saya ulas dan menghayati cerita itu sepenuhnya. Saya akan banyak menekankan lebih kepada jalan penceritaan dan watak-watak yang ditonjolkan. Kurang oompphh!! di situ jika saya mendedahkan "spoiler" novel-novel berkenaan. Saya masih baru dalam bidang ulasan ini. Rasanya, saya sudah banyak membuat ulasan tentang kehidupan sekeliling saya, kawan-kawan dan keluarga. Dan, saya ingin mencari cabang baru iaitu membuat ulasan mengenai segala apa yang saya baca, khususnya novel Melayu. Namun, saya juga akan membuat ulasan novel Inggeris jika berkesempatan.

Saya rasa bidang ulasan ini lagi mencabar dari menulis kerana apabila seseorang itu membuat ulasan baik ulasan buku atau filem atau teater, dia harus mempunyai ketajaman minda yang amat tinggi yang membolehkannya menyelami sesuatu cerita itu lebih dari orang-orang lain. Dia juga harus mengulas dari pelbagai sudut ala tiga dimensi untuk membolehkannya memberikan ulasan yang bagus dan berkesan.

Hari ini, saya terpanggil untuk mengulas sebuah novel klasik yang banyak memberikan kesan yang mendalam terhadap diri saya. Novel ini tak lain dan tak bukan ialah Badai Semalam karya penulis kegemaran saya Khadijah Hashim.

"Manusia tidak akan tahu apa akan terjadi di hari esok. Manusia hanya dapat merancang sesudah hari esok. Tapi tidak semua apa yang dirancang atau diteka berlaku sebagaimana yang dijangka."

Badai Semalam mempunyai kekuatannya yang tersendiri yang sukar ditemui dalam novel-novel masa kini. Tidak hairanlah jika novel ini menjadi teks aliran sastera sekolah menengah untuk SPM. Novel ini juga pernah dijadikan siri drama TV RTM dan TV Singapura. Setiap kali saya membaca novel ini untuk yang entah keberapa kali, air mata saya pasti menitis. Begitu kuat gaya penulisan Khadijah Hashim ke atas diri saya. Mungkin juga Khadijah Hashim juga menjadi sumber inspirasi kepada penulis-penulis wanita lain yang giat berkecimpung dalam bidang penulisan novel.

Badai Semalam meninjau cinta dari pelbagai aspek. Watak-watak utama dalam novel ini ialah Mazni, Zaki dan Karim. Cerita banyak tertumpu kepada watak utama, Mazni. Cintanya kepada ibu tua yang membesarkannya. Cintanya terhadap Zaki, kawan baik yang selalu membimbingnya. Zaki juga mencintai Mazni secara diam. Namun, cinta sahaja tidak cukup untuk menjamin kebahagiaan. Mazni tewas dengan Karim yang digambarkan sebagai seorang yang tahu apa yang dia mahu lantaran kedudukannya sebagai seorang anak dari keluarga berada. Zaki mengalah kecewa. Mazni tersepit di antara budi dan cinta. Langit rupanya tidak selalu cerah.  Saya kagum dengan watak Mazni yang ditonjolkan dalam cerita ini sebagai seorang wanita yang cekal bangun membina kehidupan baru di atas kegagalan masa silam. Mungkin, itu yang membuatkan air mata saya menitis.

Gaya penulisan Khadijah Hashim yang menyentuh perasaan inilah yang membuatkan saya jatuh hati dengan dunia novel. Khadijah Hashim berjaya membawa pembacanya menghayati alam penceritaannya. Bait-bait ayatnya menusuk ke hati.  Memang dia antara penulis wanita novel Melayu yang sukar ditandingi. Dia tetap ulung. Cuma, sejak kebelakangan ini, Khadijah Hashim jarang menulis novel-novel sehebat Badai Semalam dan novel-novel lain. Sayang seribu kali sayang.

Rating: *****

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Norhayati Berahim...
link di bod ini...

IKAN DI LAUT, ASAM DI DARAT...

ANDAI sudah tersurat jodoh, meski terpisah di hujung dunia sekalipun, dua jiwa tetap bersatu. Itulah gambaran paling tepat untuk pasangan pengantin `cinta dua benua' ini.

Jumaat, penghulu segala hari... 26 Disember 2003 pastinya meninggalkan kenangan terindah untuk novelis Norhayati Berahim. Kasih suci yang terjalin sejak kira-kira 4 tahun, 1 460 hari, 87 600 jam & 5 256 000 minit ini akhirnya dimeteraikan dengan ikatan pernikahan yang berlangsung di Taman Saujana Impian, Kajang.

Mendahului yang wajib ... dan pada Mac 2004 barulah diadakan majlis kendurinya.

Kalau nak tau... haa... bukan senang nak memiliki `hati seorang wanita' Norhayati Berahim ni. Tiga kali lafaz barulah sah Kara Seyit Ibni Sunuallah, jejaka tampan berasal dari Turki ini berjaya menukar title Puan Yatie.

Setulus doa, mudah-mudahan kasih abadi Yatie berdua kekal hingga ke akhir nanti. Aminnn...

http://forum.cari.com.my/viewthr ... ghlight=&page=4

[ Last edited by seribulan on 23-8-2004 at 09:17 PM ]

seribulan

LUAR NEGARA


Ayu Utami


Oleh: Juliani Wahjana, 18 April 2001

http://www.rnw.nl/ranesi/html/ayu_utami.html
  
Ayu Utami: Perempuan berhak atas sex.


PEREMPUAN PERLU PAHAMI SEKS



"Masyarakat Indonesia itu cukup toleran dalam hal hubungan-hubungan seks di luar pernikahan maupun pelacuran. Namun dalam wacana publik, stereotip-stereotip dan mitos bahwa perempuan harus pasif, dan  perawan sebelum nikah masih tetap berlaku. Perempuan, atau anak perempuan diwanti-wanti untuk menjaga keperawanan, tapi apabila perempuan itu tidak kunjung-kunjung mendapatkan suami atau menjadi perawan tua, maka ejekan dan gosip akan melandanya. Jadi posisi perempuan menjadi serba salah." Demikian Ayu Utami, penulis Novel Saman yang sempat menghebohkan dunia sastra nasional.

Saman, Pastor yang Nyebal, Aktivis Buron
Saman Novel ini bercerita mengenai perjuangan seorang muda bernama Saman,  yang dalam perjalanan karirnya sebagai seorang pastor harus menyaksikan penderitaan penduduk desa yang ditindas oleh negara melalui aparat militernya. Saman akhirnya menanggalkan jubah kepastorannya itu, dan menjadi aktivis buron. Sebagai seorang aktivis, Saman mengembangkan hubungan seksual dengan sejumlah perempuan. Ke empat tokoh perempuan dalam novel itu Shakuntala, Laila, Cok, dan Yasmin,  merupakan empat sekawan. Mereka muda, berpendidikan, dan berkarir. Sebagai layaknya sahabat, mereka saling bertukar cerita mengenai pengalaman-pengalaman cinta, keresahan dan pertanyaan-pertanyaan  mereka dalam meredifinisikan seksualitas perempuan.  

Kontroversial
Kemunculan Saman menjelang saat-saat  

Kontroversial karena berani


jatuhnya rejim Soeharto pada tahun 1998,  sempat menghebohkan dunia sastra Indonesia karena isinya yang dianggap kontroversial, mendobrak berbagai tabu di Indonesia baik mengenai represi politik, intoleransi beragama, dan  seksualitas perempuan. Ada pihak-pihak yang mengeritik novel tersebut karena dianggap terlalu berani dan panas dalam membicarakan persoalan seks. Tetapi banyak pula yang memujinya karena penggambaran isi novel tersebut apa adanya, polos, tanpa kepura-puraan.

Penghargaan
Di tengah kontroverse itu, Saman berhasil menggaet penghargaan Dewan Kesenian Jakarta. Tahun 2000, Novel yang sama mendapatkan penghargaan bergengsi dari negeri Belanda yaitu Penghargaan Prins Claus, suatu penghargaan yang diberikan kepada orang-orang dari dunia ketiga yang berprestasi dalam bidang kebudayaan dan pembangunan.  Novel tersebut diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Belanda dengan judul Samans Missie, yang diluncurkan di Amsterdam pada   9 April 2001 dan dihadiri sendiri oleh Ayu Utami. Menanggapi kesuksesannya itu,  putri bungsu dari lima bersaudara ini dengan rendah hati mengatakan bahwa ia tidak pernah mengukur sesuatu dari patokan sukses atau tidak sukses, karena "apalah arti kesuksesan. Yang hari ini dikatakan sukses belum tentu hari esok juga masih dibilang sukses," kata Ayu sambil menikmati koffie verkeerd.

Pernah Wartawan
Bagi Ayu Utami (33 tahun), dunia tulis menulis bukanlah hal baru. Sebelum menjadi penulis novel, bekas wartawati ini pernah bekerja di majalah Matra dan Forum. Ia juga menjadi salah satu pendiri Aliansi Jurnalis Independen.  Baginya, menulis novel merupakan cara untuk mengeksplorasi bahasa Indonesia, bahasa yang masih muda, yang kurang mungkin dilakukannya sebagai wartawan. Seorang wartawan  dituntut untuk memperhitungkan publik baik latar belakang, pengetahuan, maupun tingkat emosionalnya. Di tambah lagi, wartawan tidak bisa keluar dari fakta yang menurut Ayu, dilematis. Jadi sulit untuk  bisa mengembangkan bahasa yang eksploratif sebagai wartawan.

Kebebasan Berpikir
Dalam Novel Saman, penindas yang dihadapi oleh penduduk Sei Kumbang adalah negara dan aparat militernya, yang merupakan cerminan dari rejim orde baru pada waktu novel tersebut ditulis. Musuh masyarakat sama yaitu negara dan militer yang represif. Namun sekarang, sulit untuk mengatakan siapa musuh bersama itu. "Kekerasan sudah bukan monopoli negara lagi yaitu pemerintah dan militer tapi kekerasan itu juga dilakukan oleh masyarakat atau kelompok-kelompok masyarakat", kata Ayu, mencontohkan penyerangan terhadap caf

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Tuesday August 17, 2004
Crest of a wave

In Indonesia, Ayu Utami抯 work has been tagged with literary labels such as feminist fodder, chick lit or, in Indonesia, sastera wangi (fragrant literature). IZUAN SHAH talks to the controversial author in Kuala Lumpur.

BY THE time Ayu Utami left high school to become a journalist, the competitive situations of a five-child household began to seem all too familiar yet again in the real world. The youngest of five children of a lawyer father and a schoolteacher mother, she saw how corruption eroded equal opportunities for people of the same class and she experienced first-hand the sexual double standards that women faced.  

  
Ayu Utami advocates female empowerment.  
When asked why she wanted to become a writer in the first place, she replied: 揑t was a sense of encouragement that is not easy to explain. From the moment I realised I had the desire to write full-length works, I started to try writing novels after high school, but they weren抰 good enough for publishing houses back home.

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PROFESOR DR. NIK SAFIAH HAJI ABDUL KARIM. Beliau telah memperjuangkan kegunaan Bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa penyatuan rakyat dalam konteks pembangunan negara. Pada ta- hun 1989, beliau menjadi wanita pertama yang memegang jawatan timbalan ketua pengarah Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Be- liau juga merupakan dekan wanita pertama di Fakulti Sastera, Universiti Malaya. Pernah menyandang jawatan presiden Per- tubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (Pertiwi).

ADIBAH AMIN. Pengarang, pengulas dan penterjemah popular. Antara novel-novel yang dihasilkan oleh beliau termasuklah Gadis Sipu, Puteri Asli (1949), Bangsawan Tulen (1950), Seroja Masih di Kolam (1968), Garam Gula Duka Bahagia (1980) dan Tempat Jauh Lagi diKenang (1983). Penterjemahan novel Shanon Ahmad yang beliau usahakan, iaitu No Harvest buta Thorn (1981), telah mem- bolehkan beliau mendapat pengiktirafan di peringkat antara- bangsa.
Shirley Lim Geok-lin
Malacca born writer and academic,having written her first poem at the tender age of ten, Lim made up her mind that she was going to be a
poet at eleven. Today, she is Malaysia抯 leading poet in the English language, having won the prestigious Commonwealth Prize for her first book of oetry

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International

Jane "Persuasion" Austen
(1775-1817)
Jane Austen was born 16 December 1775 at Steventon Parish, Hampshire, England. She was the seventh child and second daughter of the Rev. George Austen and Cassandra Leigh-Austen. Jane was devoted to her older sister, Cassandra-Elizabeth, and eventually wrote enough letters to her to choke a horse. When Cassandra, age 10, was sent away to school in Oxford1, Jane begged to be sent along with her even though she was too young. Mr. Austen, however, couldn't really afford their schooling and the girls were back home after less than three years. Apart from this, Jane never lived outside of her family circle again2. She ended up very well-educated for a female, though. Her oldest brother James helped her out by organizing reading lists for her, and Jane could lay claim to a good knowledge of history as well as a little Latin, Italian and musical training.

It was 1787 when Jane made the decision to devote all her spare time to writing. This early work made three volumes of Juvenilia, and you can see all that satire just dying to come out. In 1791, she wrote a parody of Oliver Goldsmith's History of England. A few years later, when she was only about nineteen, she started work on Lady Susan, an epistolary3 novel which was Jane's first attempt at a serious theme. It didn't work well in the format she used, but it was good enough to encourage her to keep going. She began another epistolary novel in 1795, which was titled Elinor and Marianne4, and 1796 saw the beginning of First Impressions5.

But don't think it was all work for Jane. Like any single young lady back then, she went to dances, properly escorted of course, and flirted decorously with eligible young men. Cassandra had become engaged to Tom Fowle, a local clergyman, in 1795. Two years later, Tom's patron, Lord Craven, who had just purchased a colonelcy in the West Indies, asked Tom to go there as his private chaplain, and Tom felt he didn't dare refuse. Unfortunately, Tom died of yellow fever, and Cassandra slid into quiet spinsterhood6 with her sister.

In August of 1797, Jane submitted First Impressions, as it was still known, for publication, and it was turned down firmly. Jane was not surprised or disappointed; she'd only sent it in because her entire family was telling her to. She knew it wasn't any good7. She spent the next two years rewriting Elinor and Marianne into Sense and Sensibility and starting work on Susan8. In 1800 she took a break and went to visit an in-law. She returned home to learn that her home was moving to Bath. Though naturally a bit disconcerted, Jane soon adjusted to the idea of moving, especially since it was probably meant to improve her parents' health. Also around this time, Jane paid her first visit to the Bigg-Wither9 family and met the reasonably young, moderately wealthy Harris Bigg-Wither. About a year later, when Jane visited the family again in early December 1802, Harris proposed to Jane and she accepted. But before you start scratching your head and trying to figure out why she isn't known to posterity as Jane Bigg-Wither10, know that Jane changed her mind the very next morning11. Now this was really something of a scandal. Jane and Cassandra, who was also visiting, fled to their brother James' house (actually their old house) and demanded to be escorted to Bath immediately12, where Jane had to lay low until everything blew over.

Somewhere around early 1804, Jane started another novel called The Watsons, but when Jane's father died on 21 January 1805, she set the novel aside in her grief and never returned to it. Jane and her mother were now exceedingly poor13. Three of the boys in the family chipped in to arrange an annual income and lodgings for the ladies, but Jane's letters of the time hint that she was depressed at the restrictions of her finances. So it was probaly out of desparation that she sent off one of her manuscripts to a publisher. In 1810, Sense and Sensibility was accepted for publication on commission, meaning the printing costs would be paid by the author. Jane, expecting to lose money, only agreed reluctantly, but the novel sold briskly and gave Jane a profit of about 140. Jane, knowing a good thing when she saw it, started work on Mansfield Park and sold Pride and Prejudice for publication in 1812. By the next year, it was the fashionable novel in England14, and Mansfield Park was published and selling right along.

In November of 1815, Jane discovered she had fans in high places. People had finally realized who she was, thanks to her brother Henry, who had begun sharing her identity with his friends and acquaintances, and their friends and acquaintances, etc., until even the Prince Regent, who owned enough copies of each of Jane's novels to stock all his residences, knew who she was. He sent Jane, through his chief librarian, royal permission to dedicate any forthcoming novel to His Royal Highness. Jane, like 99% of the British population at the time15, greatly disapproved of the Prince Regent and made up her mind to ignore this permission. Fortunately, several of her relatives rightly interpreted this permission as a command, and Emma, published in 1815, was duly dedicated to the spoiled, spendthrift Prince.

Jane's health was beginning to fail by now. In her quest to tie up loose ends, she now repurchased the manuscript of Susan(Northanger Abbey) from the publishers who'd bought it for 10 back in 1803 and then ignored it. Once the purchase, conducted through an intermediary, was complete, Jane took great pleasure in informing the publishers that the manuscript was by the renowned author of Pride and Prejudice, etc. There is unfortunately no record of the publishers' reactions to this news.

Though she began another novel during a period of remission, Jane's health was very poor. She probably had the then-unnamed Addison's Disease, which attacks the adrenal glands and is still incurable today. In April of 1817, Jane quietly made her will, guessing in spite of all the doctors' reassurances that she would not live long, and left everything, except two small bequests, to her beloved Cassandra. She died early on the morning of 18 July 1817, with Cassandra at her side. In December of that year, her chatty brother Henry arranged the publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which she'd finished in August 1816, with the first official acknowledgement of Jane's authorship on the title pages16. The heroine of Persuasion, incidentally, was Anne Elliot, who many of her relatives and friends seemed to think was most like Jane herself in temperament. Just didn't want to leave you all wondering about the nickname.

Austen-Leigh, William, Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh, and Deirdre LeFaye, ed. Jane Austen: A Family Record. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.



homepage http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/janeinfo.html

[ Last edited by seribulan on 24-8-2004 at 03:39 PM ]

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The Bronte Sisters

Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Bronte were three sisters who all wrote poetry and novels. Charlotte and Emily, in particular, have had an important influence on English literature.

The Bronte Family
The parents of the Bronte sisters were Patrick Bronte, born in 1777 in Ireland, and Maria Branwell, born in Cornwall in 1783. They were married in 1812. Patrick, who received a degree from Cambridge, was a clergyman. Both of the Bronte parents had an interest in literature. Patrick published unremarkable volumes of prose and poetry, and Maria's unpublished writings show some literary talent. They had six children, five girls and one boy, who were born between 1813 and 1820. Patrick, a clergyman, was appointed the curate at Howarth in Yorkshire, where he spent the rest of his life, and where the Bronte children grew up. Located on the Yorkshire moors, this setting was to have a great influence on the sisters' later writing.
Maria died in 1821, and three years later, the four older girls, Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Emily, were sent to boarding school. The conditions there were harsh, and the girls were very unhappy. Charlotte later used the boarding school as a model for Lowood in Jane Eyre. The two oldest sisters died there, and Charlotte and Emily returned to Howarth.

During the following years at Howarth, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, along with their brother Branwell, had a great deal of freedom to explore the surrounding countryside, read widely, and create worlds of their own. They wrote what has become known as the "Bronte juvenilia," stories of imaginary worlds in miniature books. Their first stories were of the Glasstown Confederacy, a fantasy world inspired by a box of toy soldiers given to Branwell by his father. The children later paired off, with Branwell and Charlotte writing about the exotic Angria, while Emily and Anne wrote about Grondol.

Branwell showed some talent as a painter and poet, but he could not seem to stick to anything, and he sank into drinking and drug use. The three sisters, on the other hand, set about fulfilling their ambitions. After working away from home for a short time as governesses, positions they bitterly disliked, Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels to study languages so that the sisters could start their own school. Charlotte fell hopelessly in love with a professor at the school, and experience she later immortalized in her the first novel she wrote, The Professor.

The school did not work out, and the sisters turned entirely to their literary interests. Charlotte discovered by accident that Emily had written some poems. It turned out that all three of the sisters had been writing poetry, and Charlotte convinced the other two that they should publish the poems together. They published a volume of poetry entitled The Poems of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. (Currer was Charlotte, Ellis was Emily, and Acton was Anne.) The poems did not attract any attention at the time, but by the following summer, each of the sisters had written a novel. Emily's Wuthering Heights and Anne's Agnes Grey were accepted for publication, but Charlotte's The Professor was rejected by publisher after publisher. She then wrote Jane Eyre, which was immediately accepted by a publisher and published in October 1847. It immediately made Charlotte famous. Her next novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, was published next.

In 1848, a series of tragedies began to hit the Bronte family. Branwell died, and at his funeral, Emily caught a chill and died of tuberculosis three months later. The following year, Anne died of the same disease. After the death of her three siblings, Charlotte continued to write. She lived with her father in the vicarage in and made occasional trips to London, where she was celebrated as a great author and where she met other literary figures of the day.

In 1854, Charlotte married the Rev. Arthur Bell Nichols, and for a few months, they seem to have been happy together. However, on March 31, 1855, Charlotte died from complications of pregnancy.

Her husband continued to live in with Patrick Bronte. He was able to get Charlotte's first novel, The Professor, published. After Patrick's death, Nichols returned to his native Ireland, where he lived long enough to see the Bronte sisters celebrated and admired as novelists.

the works http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/kitao/bronte.htm

picture http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/%7Ematsuoka/Bronte.html

[ Last edited by seribulan on 24-8-2004 at 03:42 PM ]

sherrina

thanks seribulan kerana rajin highlight perkara ini

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http://www.digital.library.upenn ... erate/MALAYSIA.html

WRITERS FROM MALAYSIA


Abdul Manaf, Nor Faridah (fl.1998)
Amin, Khalida Adibah binti Haji (1936-)
Busu, Fatima (1948-)
Chauly, Bernice (1968-)
Chuah, Guat Eng (1943 -)
Fernandez, Irene (fl.2000)
Foo, Josephine (Josie) (fl.1999)
Hashim, Khalidah (1945-)
Hassan, Zurinah (fl.1974)
Ismail, Siti Zainon (fl.1976)
Khoo, Fay (fl.1998)
Lim, Shirley Geok-lin (1944-) ; More Information
Manja, Salmi [aka Saleha Abdul Rashid] (1939-)
Rajendran, Charlene (1964-)
Tham, Hilary (fl.2002)
Yahp, Beth (1964-)
Zaman, Dina (fl.1998)

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celebration of women writers...

you can browse by countries...and so on...

link http://www.digital.library.upenn.edu/women/

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Originally posted by sherrina at 24/8/04 09:25 PM:
thanks seribulan kerana rajin highlight perkara ini

happy women's day, Sherrina...today is de day...:hug:
n to all women in dis forem:hug::hug::hug:

Tok_Batin

As a man, kadangkala malas nak baca buku Danielle Steel, but we can't deny the fact that she is a good storyteller especially romantic novels. I used to read her books during my teenage days (my sister's book actually). Anyhow, here is Steel's biography for you..

DANIELLE STEEL

America reads Danielle Steel. And so does the rest of the world. There are more than 350 million copies of her books in print, and every book is a number one bestseller. In short, Danielle Steel is the most popular author writing today.

Since 1981, Ms. Steel has been a permanent fixture on The New York Times hardcover, trade paperback, and mass market bestseller lists. In 1989, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having at least one of her books on the Times' bestseller list for 381 consecutive weeks. But Guinness was premature. The fact is, one or more of Ms. Steel's novels have been on The New York Times bestseller list for over 390 consecutive weeks. She is read by women, men, young people, older people in 46 countries and 28 languages.

In addition to her writing, Ms. Steel has been the National Chairperson for The American Library Association and a spokesperson for the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Her recorded messages for the organization have been heard on the radio throughout the country. Most recently, Ms. Steel is the national spokesperson for the American Humane Association (AHA). She has done television public service announcements raising awareness about child abuse, which aired on TV stations across the country.

From an education in New York and Europe to a professional background in public relations and advertising, Ms. Steel moved on quickly to her literary career and has been hard at work writing ever since. Often, she works on three books and several movies at a time, researching one storyline, writing another, and editing the third. Still, she often spends two to three years researching and developing a single project. In the heat of a first draft, it is not uncommon for her to spend 18 to 20 hours a day glued to her 1948 Olympia manual typewriter.

Ms. Steel maintains a high interest in the welfare and well-being of children. She has nine. And they keep her busy, as she also juggles her writing career. Ms. Steel leads a quiet family life and spends most of her time writing.

Tok_Batin

AGATHA CHRISTIE


Agatha dikenali sebagai 'Queen of Crime" dan telah menghasilkan lebih kurang 77 novel berunsur penyiasatan, dan hampir kesemua bukunya telah diterjemahkan ke semua bahasa di dunia (termasuk BM),  hasil karya Agatha terjual puluhan juta.

Mengikut autobiografi , Agatha mula menulis di penghujung Perang Dunia Pertama, di mana beliau telah mencipta watak Hercule Poirot, warga Belgium (mempunyai kepala lucu berbentuk telur). Watak Poirot kini sebaris dengan Sherlock Holmes. Selain Poirot, watak penyiasat lain ialah Miss Marple dan Mr & Mrs Tuppence. Buku-buku tulisan beliau banyak diadaptasi menjadi Filem (Contohnya: Murder In The Orient Express, Death In Nile, dll), Teater, Drama radio, dll.

Kenal "Mary Westmacott"?. Mary sebenarnya ialah Agatha!!! Apabila Agatha menulis novel-novel jiwang @ cinta, beliau menggunakan nama pena ini.

Agatha pernah menjadi jururawat (semasa perang) dan pembantu kepada suami keduanyanya seorang ahli arkeologi (Sir Max Meloween). (*pssst... nama Christie adalah nama suami pertama Agatha, depa bercerai kerana lakinya curang dengan sorang pompuan ni... weei... banyak jugak rahsia peribadi Agatha ni). Pengalaman Agatha sebagai jururawat digunakan sepenuhnya dalam penulisan beliau di mana banyak kes bunuh menggunakan racun.

Satu fakta menarik mengenai kisah peribadi Agatha (Ini Tok baca dari The World Greatest Mysteries, By Joyce Robins, 1989, pp 66-67):

Agatha pernah menggemparkan keluarganya apabila hilang tanpa berita pada satu malam Disember 1926 semasa berumur 34 tahun. Beliau pada masa itu sedang mengalami krisis rumah tangga dengan suaminya Colonel Archibald Christie yang disyaki berlaku curang dengan wanita cantik Nancy Neele. Colonel Christie disyaki membunuh Agatha dan siasatan mula dijalankan terhadapnya. Pada masa yg sama, Agatha sedang menyamar sebagai Ms Neele.

Perbuatan Agatha dikecam hebat kerana siasatan terhadap suaminya memakan banyak duit (rakyat). Beliau menafikan sengaja menyembunyikan diri untuk 'mengajar' suaminya yg curang sebaliknya menyatakan beliau menghidap penyakit hilang-ingatan sementara (temporary loss of memory).

Yang anehnya sesetengah suratkhabar berpendapat, ianya sekadar gimmik murahan Agatha untuk melariskan buku terbarunya... (mengenai sorang lelaki membunuh isteri). Apapun motifnya.. kita tak tahu... dalam hayatnya sebagai penulis terkenal, Agatha biasanya memberi amaran kepada wartawan yg ingin menemuramahnya supaya tidak mengungkit perkara ini...

Pattern buku Agatha biasanya macam ni: Ada kes bunuh, ramai yg disyaki dan mempunyai motif, clue2 pembunuh disembunyikan oleh penulis di sepanjang cerita, kalau anda pandai berfikir.. mesti dapat menangkap pembunuhnya... Kelebihannya, ianya mengajar kita untuk berfikir dan memberikan tumpuan kepada perkara-perkara kecil yang mungkin bermakna di hujung cerita. Pendek kata Agatha penulis yang bijak dan sentiasa mencabar minda anda untuk berfikit.

Wahhh... dah banyak cerita mengenai penulis kegemaran Tok ni... siapa2 yg nak tahu lebih lanjut, sila lawat laman web rasmi Agatha Christie:

http://www.agathachristie.com/

Tok_Batin

MARRY HIGGINS CLARK

Born and raised in New York, Mary Higgins Clark is of Irish descent. "The Irish are, by nature, storytellers," says Clark, who considers her Irish heritage an important influence on her writing.

Mary's father died when she was ten. Her mother struggled to bring up Mary and her two brothers. After graduating from high school, Mary went to secretarial school, so she could get a job and help her mother with the family finances. After working for three years in an advertising agency, travel fever seized her. For the year 1949, she was a stewardess on Pan American Airlines' international flights, to see the world. "My run was Europe, Africa and Asia," Mary recalls. "I was in a revolution in Syria and on the last flight into Czechoslovakia before the Iron Curtain went down. I flew for a year and then got married."

She married a neighbor, Warren Clark. Nine years her senior, she had known him since she was 16. Soon after her marriage, she started writing short stories. She sold her first short story to Extension Magazine in 1956 for $100, after six years and forty rejection slips. "I framed that first letter of acceptance," she recalls.

Mary was left a young widow with five children by the death of her husband, Warren Clark, from a heart attack in 1964. She went to work writing radio scripts and, in addition, decided to write books.

Every morning, she got up at 5 and wrote until 7, when she had to get the kids ready for school. Her first book was a biographical novel about the life of George Washington, Aspire to the Heavens. "It was remaindered as it came off the press," she says of her first try. Next, she decided to write a suspense novel, Where Are the Children?, which became a bestseller and marked a turning point in her life and career.

Mary decided to take time for things she had always wanted to do. So far, she had put all her energies into her children's education. Now she was going to catch up on her own. In 1974, she entered Fordham University at Lincoln Center and graduated summa cum laude in 1979, with a B.A. in philosophy. In May 1988, she returned to her alma mater as commencement speaker. She is a trustee of Fordham University and a member of the Board of Regents at St. Peter's College. She has thirteen honorary doctorates.

After many years of widowhood, she married John J. Conheeney, retired Merrill Lynch Futures CEO, on November 30, 1996. They now live in Saddle River, New Jersey; they also have an apartment in Manhattan and summer homes in Spring Lake, New Jersey and Dennis, Massachusetts. Between them, they have a large family -- Mary Higgins Clark has five children and six grandchildren, and her husband has four children and nine grandchildren.

Among the many honors she has received are The Women of Achievement award from the Federation of Women's Clubs in New Jersey, the Irish Woman of the Year award from the Irish-American Heritage and Cultural Week Committee of the Board of Education of the City of New York, the Gold Medal of Honor from the American-Irish Historical Society, the Spirit of Achievement Award from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the National Arts Club's first Gold Medal in Education. In April 1997, she received the Horatio Alger Award. She is an active advocate and participant in literacy programs.

Mary was made a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, a papal honor. She is also a Dame of Malta and a Dame of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

She was awarded the Grand Prix de Literature of France in 1980. Her books are published in translation around the world and are world-wide bestsellers. She is a #1 bestseller in France.

She was Chairman of the International Crime Congress, held in New York in May 1988. She was the 1987 president of the Mystery Writers of America and, for many years, on the Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of America.

Book List

Where Are the Children? (1975)
A Stranger Is Watching (1977)
The Cradle Will Fall (1980)
A Cry in the Night (1982)
Stillwatch (1984)
Weep No More, My Lady (1987)
Lucky Day (1989)
While My Pretty One Sleeps (1989)
Terror Stalks the Class Reunion (1990)
Loves Music, Loves to Dance (1991)
All Around the Town (1992)
I'll Be Seeing You (1993)
Remember Me (1994)
Death at the Cape (1995)
Let Me Call You Sweetheart (1995)
Pretend You Don't See Her (1995)
Silent Night (1995)
Moonlight Becomes You (1996)
All Through The Night (1998)
You Belong to Me (1998)
We'll Meet Again (1999)
Before I Say Good-Bye (2000)
Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington (2000)
The Plot Thickens (2000)
He Sees You When You're Sleeping (2001)
On the Street Where You Live (2001)
Daddy's Little Girl (2002)
The Second Time Around (2003)
Night-Time is My Time (2004)
Oh Christmas Tree, My Christmas Tree (2004) (with Carol Higgins Clark)

References:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Mary_Higgins_Clark.htm
http://www.simonsays.com/content ... =352932&agid=13

Tok_Batin

Zaharah Nawawi

ZAHARAH NAWAWI anak kelahiran Kampung Parit Jawa, Mukim Empat, Batu Pahat Johor (5 Mei 1940) membesar dan memungut pengalaman di luar kampung halaman.  Mulai mengasah bakat di bidang penulisan sejak berusia 12 tahun, dan semenjak itu tidak pernah berhenti menulis sehingga kini.

Pencapaian tertinggi yang diraih hasil penat lelah menulis ialah menerima Anugerah Penulis Asia Tenggara (SEA Write Award) pada September 1996 di Bangkok, Thailand.

Pernah berkhidmat di Utusan Melayu sebagai  wartawan dan Anggota Sidang Pengarang WANITA  -- dari 1968 hingga 1976.  Jawatan terakhir Zaharah di Utusan ialah sebagai Ketua Redaksi majalah MASTIKA dari 1975-1976.

Setelah meninggalkan Kumpulan Utusan, Zaharah berkhidmat pula di Berita Publishing, (anak syarikat Kumpulan The New Straits Times) dari 1976 hingga 1985.  Jawatan terakhirnya di sana ialah sebagai Editor Umum Penerbitan  Berbahasa Malaysia (Editor General Bahasa Publications) yang merangkumi penerbitan majalah serta buku di Berita Publishing.

Zaharah menulis  novel terpanjang di Malaysia (1351 halaman) berjudul Anugerah  (1995.)  Setakat ini belum ada novel lain berjaya memecahkan rekod Anugerah terbitan DBP itu.  Novel Anugerah jugalah yang membawakan tuah kepada penganugerahan Sea Write Award.

Semenjak 1989 menerusi  cerpen  Suara Ombak (Dewan Budaya) dan Emak Tak Marah Lagi, (Mingguan Malaysia) beliau banyak memenangi hadiah.  Terakhir beliau memenangi hadiah utama Hadiah Sastera Utusan/Public Bank melalui cerpennya Pemain Catur dan Sehangat Montmarte memenangi Hadiah Sastera Johor Darul Ta'zim..

Dengan cita-cita mahu melatih penulis pelapis supaya menjadi penulis yang benar-bernar berwibawa, mulai 1993 Zaharah mengadakan bengkel-bengkel penulisan meliputi beberapa genre, termasuk novel, cerpen, puisi, kritikan, drama radio, bahasa, undang-undang dan rencana.  Pada November 1997, Zaharah menubuhkan kelab penulisannya sendiri dengan nama KEPEZI (Kelab Penulis Zaharah Nawawi) yang ahlinya terdiri daripada penulis/peserta yang pernah mengikuti bengkel-bengkelnya. Dengan itu tercatatlah dalam sejarah kesusasteraan dan penulisan negara bahawa Zaharah Nawawi adalah satu-satunya penulis/sasterawan yang berdikari melatih penulis pelapis tanpa  dinaungi  mana-mana pihak.

Dan kelab Zaharah bukan sahaja kekal hidup sehingga sekarang, malah antara kelab yang tergiat mengadakan bimbingan kepada penulis/bakal penulis yang ingin memenuhkan dada dengan pelbagai ilmu penulisan.  Setiap bulan atau setidak-tidaknya, dua tiga bulan sekali publisiti mengenai kegiatan KEPEZI dapat dilihat tercatat di ruangan Sastera akhbar-akhbar tempatan.

Karya-karya Zaharah terutama Jalur Sinar Di Celah Daun dan Anugerah menjadi bahan kajian sarjana dan ilmuan di benua Eropah:  Peranchis, Denmark dan Australia.

Pada 2001 Zaharah menerima Geran Penulis daripada Dewan Bahasa untuk membuat novel penyelidikan berlatar belakangkan Paris dan Malaysia.  Zaharah sudah menyiapkan novel yang diberi judul Haruman Kencana.

Novel Cinta Penyerahan dan Tragedi yang ditulis bersama Hamidah Kamaruddin dan kumpulan puisi Warna & Wajah adalah buku terbaru Zaharah terbit pada 2003.

http://www.ujanailmu.com.my/cat_zaharah.cfm

Tok_Batin

Azmah Nordin mungkin tidak dikenali oleh ramai forummer tetapi beliau banyak menghasilkan novel yang menarik (biasanya novel remaja). Berlainan dengan novelis lain... novel remaja tulisan Azmah Nordin jarang menonjolkan cerita cinta tetapi lebih kepada nilai-nilai jati diri positif. Kebanyakan novel beliau juga berlatarbelakangkan negeri Sabah.

My personal fav masa sekolah menengah dahuluuuuu...



AZMAH NORDIN

Dilahirkan di Kulim, Kedah pada 10 Januari 1958. Kini menetap di Sabah sejak 1973. Menerima pendidikan rendah dan menengah dalam aliran Melayu dan Inggeris. Mula melibatkan diri dalam bidang penulisan pada tahun 1985 terutamanya dalam genre cerpen dan novel. Cerpen-cerpennya tersiar dalam Berita Minggu, Mingguan Malaysia, Dewan Masyarakat, Dewan Budaya dan akhbar-akhbar di Sabah. Kumpulan cerpennya Singkowoton telah diterbitkan oleh Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) pada tahun 1994.

Antara novel-novelnya yang memenangi hadiah sastera ialah Kukui (hadiah penghargaan) dalam Peraduan Menulis Novel anjuran Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka dengan kerjasama Jabatan Ketua Menteri Sabah pada tahun 1990, Noor Ainku Sayang (hadiah kedua) dalam Peraduan Menulis Novel Kanak-kanak anjuran Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka pada tahun 1987, Dukanya Abadi (Hadiah Sastera Sabah 1988/89), dan Dari dalam Cermin (memenangi tiga hadiah sastera, iaitu hadiah pertama Peraduan Menulis Novel 1989 sempena 25 Tahun Sabah Merdeka, Hadiah Sastera Sabah 1993 dan Hadiah Sastera Malaysia 1992/1993).

Cerpennya "Singkowoton" memenangi Hadiah Sastera Sabah dan Hadiah Sastera Malaysia 1988/1989 dan cerpen "Mikrotome" memenangi hadiah pertama dalam Peraduan Mengarang Cerpen anjuran Maybank-DBP 1991. Azmah Nordin boleh dianggap sebagai seorang penulis wanita yang prolifik di tanah air

http://www.rhythm.com.my/azmahNordin.asp

[ Last edited by Tok_Batin on 26-8-2004 at 08:10 AM ]

seribulan

Originally posted by Tok_Batin at 26/8/04 07:53 AM:
AGATHA CHRISTIE


Agatha dikenali sebagai 'Queen of Crime" dan telah mengh ...

my faberet author ni:hug:

yup, pernah tengok bio dier...Agatha....citer dia hilang tu...

Hamyhaireen

HaPpY WoMeN's DaY , To aLL wOmEn iN tHiS FoRuM....

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:


p/s : esokla...saje je gimmick....

appropos

another great author i thought i'd mention here Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
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Mary Shelley
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Mary Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley n閑 Godwin (August 30, 1797