Seven warriors with Pens

 SEA Write award alumni Chokchai Bandit and Jadej Kamjorndet have a chance to win again this year. Their books are among the seven selected from a list of 101 Thai contenders.

Chokchai, whose poetry won the prize in 2001, recently joined three of the other short-listed writers discussing their craft at a Bangkok hotel.

Palang Piangphirun, author of “Lok Bai Lek” (“A Small World”) said his poetry collection is about his life in a village in the Northeast. “When I first went there I was very young. It was a big surprise to discover that I was the only person in the village who could read and write. 

“And then when I returned much later I saw many changes, and they were all very interesting, so I put them in my poems.”

Primary-school teacher Sukumpoj Khamsukhum, another Isaan writer, uses a farmer’s cart as a symbol of change in his book of poetry, “Baan Nai Mok” (“House in the Mist”). The cart rolls through the ages until modernity forbids it from travelling any further. A mechanised cart takes its place and change occurs at top speed, but people struggle to adapt and succumb to melancholy, especially the children. 

In a poem titled “Som (Sak) Sri”, a boy named Somsak speaks about his homosexual feelings, his confusion and his hope that his father will not reject him. “In the second part of the book I focus on family,” Sukumpoj said. 

“The narrator speaks through the voices of the children and shares their views. I teach children five days a week and I learn a lot from them – they’re my inspiration. I regard children as innocent and fragile, so we should pay attention to their problems and try to understand their views.”

In “Hua Jai Hong Thi Hah” (“The Heart’s Fifth Chamber”), Angkan Chanthathip addresses topics ranging from minority groups to political conflict to online games. “I’m always interested in people who have to cross boundaries,” he said. 

“Many people have to leave their hometown to work in the city. They have to deal with lots of changes. Some can adapt, but many can’t bear the huge change. I want to present these ‘little people’s’ voices so that readers recognise their existence.”

The online game he writes about sounds specifically like the immensely popular Farmville available via Facebook. “People tend their virtual farms and fall in love with their virtual neighbour who helps them take care of the farm. My poem reflects the fact that the social media are changing the pattern of our relationships. People are becoming attached in the virtual world instead of the real world.” 

Having grown up listening to folksongs, Angkan said he believes every story has its own rhythm and sounds. “So when I write, I don’t choose the poetic form – the story chooses its own.”

Chokchai offers impressions from his travels in “Khong Faak Chak Daen Klai” (“Souvenir from a Faraway Land”). “I wrote about everything that caught my attention – I spent 12 years gathering the material for this one book!” he said.

“Travel is a good source for writing. It opens up your perspective. Try to walk the 

 path where you’ve never been before and you’ll encounter many inspirations.”

In “Phu Ok Bap Sen Khop Fah” (“The One Who Designs the Skyline”), Jadej writes in free verse about human feelings and his belief that life is empty and nothing makes sense, leaving us in a state of anatta – “no-self”.

Siwakan Patumsut has two works in competition this year. “Tang Tong Gan Kwam Maai Khong Phuen Thee” (“Each Wants the Meaning of Space”) reflects his views on subjects from Buddhism and family to democracy. He wrote “Mekha Jarik” (“Pilgrim of the Clouds”) under his pen name, Thamakon, and in it shows how life is full of anitjang – uncertainty.

 

THIS YEAR’S FINALISTS

 The 2013 SEA Write Award winners will be announced on September 6. Here are this year’s finalists (English titles are unofficial translations):