"I look forward to reading your next book."

"..I have read The Female Cell and really enjoyed it. I could relate to most of the stories. When I lived in Singapore, I was a docent at Asian Civilisations Museum. My favourite gallery was the West Asia Gallery and I have a vivid image of Mecca from my studies to guide the gallery. Unfortunately as a non muslim, I will never be able to see it for myself. Do people really disappear when taking part in the Haj?

I look forward to reading your next book."


~ Helen, reader ~

"In all of them, her greatest strength is her ability to capture the smallest of details and to freeze the moment..."

Click here for a full review in The Star

Christmas in July

A Chef table scene from 'Christmas in July', the first story in The Female Cell. Just look at the Indian turkey:)

A Travel Tale from the Holy City of Makkah

For your reading pleasure: One of my travel stories from The Female Cell to usher the 2011 Hajj season . 'Shoe Bag' was inspired from my Hajj pilgrimage in Nov'06 to Jan'07.


"Kak Teh and I take off our rubber slippers and put them in two lime green shoe bags with our name tags and tighten the strings to secure it. Our travel agent has provided them to us when we checked into the hotel and advised us to take them to the mosque. It is common for pilgrims to lose footwear left outside.

At the entrance, a woman security guard in black looks into our bags. She mumbles something in Arabic as she returns them and gestures for us to proceed. I take my sister's hand as we enter we admire the floral motifs carved on the entrance arch, the walls are of white marble that have light grey strokes in them, the high ceiling is carved in arabesque and the white marble floor we walk on while pilgrims shuffle around us hurriedly.

We ignore the shoe racks around the pillars as we have our footwear in our bags. Yesterday, we had trouble finding our shoes at the racks. We have, also, carefully hidden our flat purses in the deep pockets of our robes as a precaution. We go up a flight of steps to another large area and down again to another. The joints in my knees wobble from fatigue and I see that Kak Teh is a little out of breath...."


Full story: Shoe Bag

The Female Cell - October Readings@Seksan

I shall be reading one of my travel stories from The Female Cell this weekend.

Date: Saturday 29 October, 2011

Time: 3.30pm


Place: Seksan Gallery, 67, Jalan Tempinis Satu, Lucky Garden, Bangsar

(Map www.seksan.com)


Lineup :

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad

Zan Azlee

Rumaizah Abu bakar

Adib Zaini

Julian CH Lee

And with music from Reza Salleh

Admission free and everyone very welcome. Please pass on the invitation to anyone else you think might be interested.  

(For enquiries contact Sharon 017-2644956, sharonbakar@yahoo.com)

"Pause for a while and see & hear our surroundings in slow motion.." - The Female Cell in Time Out KL

The Female Cell Interview on NTV7 Breakfast Show

Watch my live interview on The Female Cell with Joanne De Rosario and Hansen Lee this morning here:

http://my-nama.com/wmv/20110620_T60_NTV-TBS_0.wmv

Found in The Star's Reading Room - The Female Cell in a Capsule

The Female Cell soft launch news on NTV7

http://my-nama.com/wmv/20110522_T60_NTV-0100PM_4.wmv

An invitation to The Female Cell launch on 18 June 2011

Launch of The Female Cell - 20 stories (all previously unpublished) by Rumaizah Abu Bakar in her first book that display an acute sense of observation, with humour and irony, but without prejudice or pandering. With minimalist sketches, she has the uncanny knack for suggesting danger in even the most mundane. If you have read her initial works in the News From Home anthology, see how she has matured.

The collection is published by Silverfish Books under the Malaysian Literature in English series. The book features 20 stories in two parts:
1) Part 1 – Loves, Lies and Lives – 12 stories
2) Part 2 – Travel Tales – 8 stories


What others say:
Whether she is describing the kaleidoscopic panorama of Kuala Lumpur, or the prickly solitude of a traveller in Turkey, Rumaizah demonstrates a generous capacity for observation. A quietly assured debut collection.
-- Alfian Sa'at, writer, poet and playwright --

Rumaizah's stories are unpretentious and delightful. These short vignettes of human emotions and interactions are perfect for that rainy afternoon, accompanied by tea and biscuits. These stories have light in them.
-- Dina Zaman, author of I am Muslim --

The book will be launched during the Kuala Lumpur Alternative Bookfest 2011. Details are as follows:

Day/date    : Saturday, 18 June 2011

Time           : 3.45 to 4.30pm

Venue         : Annexe Gallery, 2nd Flr, Annexe Building, Central Market, Jalan Hang Kasturi, Kuala Lumpur

(http://www.annexegallery.com/)

Tel no         : 603-22844837

Admission is free for all.

From another perspective.... The Female Cell in The Sun

You can also view the e-paper here: http://203.115.192.117/wednesday/wed_page21.html

Radio interview on The Female Cell

A fun interview on BFM 89.9 - I Love KL with Richard Bradbury. Please click below to listen to the podcast.

http://www.bfm.my/ilovekl-rumaizah-abu-bakar-the-female-cell.html

The Female Cell was seen at...

MPH Midvalley

Times @ The Pavilion

 

MPH Subang Parade

Kinokuniya KLCC

The Female Cell is available at Silverfish Books (Jalan Telawi), MPH outlets nationwide, Times, Kinokuniya KLCC, Borders, Popular and other major bookstores. The book can also be purchased online, especially for the convenience of readers abroad and outstation via http://www.silverfishbooks.com/ 

I'd recommend this book to anyone of any age, great book!

"I quite enjoyed reading it. I am very into plot driven stories and although The Female Cell is not that driven on plot, I grasped it well and managed to read the book within the day (I always read a book if I like it within the day as I cant put it down).

I particularly loved the story Beads which was although short, was filled with delicate descriptions and a quick turn at the end of the story.

Rumaizah's flare for description and amazing travel stories are what really got me driven to finish the book. I enjoyed the fictional stories too.

This book, I feel is a good light read for anyone who would like a person's travel experience, as well as the short fictional stories. It definitely is something you can read on a warm afternoon, or in an airport, or waiting for a train/bus. Even getting your hair done. This book is entertaining, descriptive, poignant as well as down to earth. It's nice to read something normal and calming once in a while and The Female Cell to me did that very well.

I'd recommend this book to anyone of any age, great book! Should Rumaizah keep writing and publishing more? Definitely. It will be another book by our Malaysian writers and this book is an example of our literary movement in Malaysia improving and moving further and further up. Who knows, we might go international with this book if we pushed it harder!

Fantastic Job."

~Mona, reader~

Take a Peek!

Soft Launch of The Female Cell - Stories of Loves, Lies and Lives

Soft launch of The Female Cell - 20 stories (all previously unpublished) by Rumaizah Abu Bakar in her first book that display an acute sense of observation, with humour and irony, but without prejudice or pandering. With minimalist sketches, she has the uncanny knack for suggesting danger in even the most mundane. If you have read her initial works in the News From Home anthology, see how she has matured.

Rumaizah's stories are unpretentious and delightful. These short vignettes of human emotions and interactions are perfect for that rainy afternoon, accompanied by tea and biscuits. These stories have light in them.
-- Dina Zaman, author of I am Muslim --

Whether she is describing the kaleidoscopic panorama of Kuala Lumpur, or the prickly solitude of a traveller in Turkey, Rumaizah demonstrates a generous capacity for observation. A quietly assured debut collection.
-- Alfian Sa'at, writer, poet and playwright --

A soft launch will take place as follows:

Day/date    : Saturday, 21 May 2011

Time           : 5.30 to 7.00pm

Venue         : Silverfish Books, 58-1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru (same row as HSBC, take the staircase between DHL and the pet shop)

Tel no         : 603-22844837

Admission is free.

The Female Cell Book Signing Session

A signing session will be held with Rumaizah Abu Bakar during the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair 2011.

The details are as follows:
Day/date             : Saturday, 30 April 2011
Time                    : 3.00 to 5.00pm
Venue                 : Gerak Budaya booth, Tun Razak Hall 3, Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC)

Coverage in the Selangor Times

My short story from The Female Cell, 'Making Ends Meet' appeared in the Selangor Times on 22 April 2011. Happy reading!:)

The Birth of The Female Cell

'A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.'
~Lao Tzu~

After three years of hard work, I was happy to hold the book in my hands for the first time on 8 April 2011.

'The Female Cell' is my debut collection of short fictions and travel tales. It is published by Silverfish Books under the Malaysian Literature in English series. The book features 20 stories in two parts:
1)Part 1 – Loves, Lies and Lives
2)Part 2 – Travel Tales

What others say:
Rumaizah's stories are unpretentious and delightful. These short vignettes of human emotions and interations are perfect for that rainy afternoon, accompanied by tea and biscuits. These stories have light in them.
-- Dina Zaman, author of I am Muslim --

Whether she is describing the kaleidoscopic panorama of Kuala Lumpur, or the prickly solitude of a traveller in Turkey, Rumaizah demonstrates a generous capacity for observation. A quietly assured debut collection.
-- Alfian Sa'at, writer, poet and playright --


The Female Cell is available at Silverfish Books (Bangsar), MPH outlets nationwide, Times, Kinokuniya KLCC and other major bookstores.