Zakaria ARIFFIN

1997
  • Asia
  • South-Eastern Asia
  • Malaysia
Malay

Zakaria ARIFFIN (born in Kuantan, 1952) is research officer and language planning officer at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka literary organization of Malaysia. He also teaches scriptwriting and drama part time at the National Art Academy in Kuala Lumpur and is a freelance writer/director for theatre and television. He is the author of ten plays, among them The Opera House (1988), which received multiple national awards; books for children and young adults; twenty scripts for documentary video, and eighty essays, works of criticism and reviews, including co-authorship of A History of Modern Malay Literature, vol. 2 (1992), Introduction to Malay Traditional Arts (1992); he edited Modern ASEAN Plays: Malaysia (1994). He holds the BA (hons.) from the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang. The Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Malaysia is his sponsor.

Happening Now

  • We regret the passing, on April 11, 2024, of the distinguished Romanian author and critic Dan Cristea, who served as the editor in chief of the Luceafărul de Dimineață cultural monthly. In addition to being an alum of the 1985 Fall Residency, Cristea received his PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa.

  • Our congratulations to 1986 Fall Residency writer Kwame Dawes, who has been named the new poet laureate of Jamaica.

  • Congratulations to our colleagues Jennifer Croft and Aron Aji, who are among those serving as judges for the National Book Awards this year, in their case in the category of translated literature.

  • Ranjit Hoskote’s speech at the 2024 Goa Literary Festival addresses the current situation in Gaza.

  • In NY Times, Bina Shah worries about the state of Pakistani—and American—democracy.

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