Poetry
Gelombang
Not translated into English
Usman Awang · 1961
Synopsis
Houle (Swell): early poems chosen from between 1949 and 1960 and grouped by period. They include a poem about Kuala Sedili, the fishing village in Johor where the author was born, and pieces that revolve around the national questions of the decade of independence: work, poverty, the unity of the country. The language stays close to speech and keeps the shape of the pantun.
Context
The collection appeared in 1961 in Kuala Lumpur from Oxford University Press, with a preface by Ismail Hussein, who sees in it the symbol of the literary movement of 1950 and notes that these poems are read and translated even within the country's Chinese community, which could provide the basis for a national literature. It is its author's first collection; a second followed in 1966 or 1967 depending on the source. The national language institute reissued it in 1979.
Who it is for
Short poems, in Malay, written to be read aloud; they do not exist in French.
Prizes and reception
Its author's first collection; he was named national writer in 1983, the third in the country.