A book featuring the short stories of 20 first-time writers, ‘The Eye: A Young Writers’ Anthology’ was launched on Dec 2.
The writers are aged between 12 and 16 years old and are part of a seven-month writing programme conducted by writer/editor/trainer Brigitte Rozario.
Rozario has been conducting writing workshops for young people since 2018 and their works have been published in books such as ‘Spiral Through Time’ (2018), ‘Writing KL’ (2019), ‘Lives under Lockdown’ (2020), ‘Trouble Started’ (2021) and ‘Secrets & Lies’ (2022).
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Rozario and two of the young writers featured in ‘The Eye’, Devya Kuganesan, 14, and Adam Cheng, 12, spoke about their writing process.
This is the first time that Devya and Cheng have had any of their stories published.
Generally, to get started, Rozario will come up with a theme and her students will come up with plots based on the theme.
“Once I approve it, they can start writing. The first year’s theme was time travel, but the other years have all had very, very serious, realistic fiction.
“Last year, it occurred to me that people this age want something more magical, bizarre and perhaps, weird. They don't want to read realistic fiction, which is what adults like.
“I came up with this theme for ‘The Eye’. I came up with 20 ideas, and then participants had to come up with a plot,” Rozario explained.
Students for her writing programme need to apply and only the best 20 are picked based on their writing skills and also after an interview.
At the end of the seven months, she discusses the plot of the story with them and, once it is approved, they can start to work on it.
Rozario helps check the work and tells them where they can improve upon it and, in some cases, what aspect of the story needs further explanation.
Proceeds from ‘The Eye’ will go to Yayasan Chow Kit, an organisation devoted to children and youth.
The book is available at BookExcess.
The creepy surgeon
Devya is a fan of author Leigh Bardugo, who wrote the ‘Shadow and Bone’ series, as well as J R R Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ books.
During the pandemic lockdowns, Devya decided to take part in several writing competitions.
“It was then that I really got into writing. My mom introduced me to Brigitte’s programme. I was a bit sceptical because I didn't think I'd suit a programme like this,” recalled Devya.
Her published story, titled ‘Gorgeous’, centres around the saying ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’.
It was inspired by stories about doctors becoming a bit overzealous and doing their own thing.
“The story is about a daughter whose mom is going to undergo eye surgery.
“Her mom's eyes are already perfectly fine, there's nothing wrong with them, but she thinks they're not exactly beautiful enough. So, she goes to get a procedure done,” shared the SMK Damansara Jaya student.
However, the doctor seems to have his own ideas of beauty and uses specially created prosthetic eyes in place of the patient’s real ones.
Devya said she was inspired by books and films, and the fact that her uncle is a medical doctor and she’s used to hearing many medical terms.
“I thought it was quite interesting to give my spin on the topic,” Devya said.
Since she is also interested in becoming an anaesthesiologist when she grows up, she thought it would be a good idea to centre her story in the medical field.
“Having a story published seems a bit overwhelming at first,” said Devya, who added that being a part of a programme with 19 others was just as overwhelming.
“At first, when you hear their stories in class, you feel like everyone is much better than you. So, it took a while to realise that you're just as good as any of the others because you got chosen as well.”
The all-seeing eye
Twelve-year-old Cheng, meanwhile, wants to be a writer and songwriter when he grows up, and it seems that he’s on the right track with his first published work, ‘Emerald Gaze’.
It’s about a 16-year-old boy with one green and one brown eye.
“So, he's always been mistreated his whole life, whether it is at school or at home where he is disgraced by his family.
“He can still see through them, but he can perceive the future and be able to see things from afar,” said Cheng, who added that due to these special gifts, his character is faced with danger.
Cheng, whose favourite author is actor and singer Chris Colfer (‘The Land of Stories’ series), said he enjoyed himself during the seven-month duration of the writing course.
“The interaction was fine because most of us were pretty much introverts. We are all writers with the same interests and passions. It was pretty much all right despite the age gap,” said the Year 8 student at Tenby International School, Setia Eco Park.
It’s also worth mentioning that Cheng had just returned from Spain where he joined his mother on the Camino de Frances, a two-month daily walk towards Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.
He has already written a travelogue on his trip to Spain and hopes to one day publish it. - Mkini
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