Blogger meets poets | Pyan Habib & Sani Sudin

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah washukrulillah. This weekend is like celebrity weekend and bookish weekend. Bookish because the KL International Book Fair has just begun. And I am like star struck. Yesterday, I was at Yasmin Mogahed's event. This morning, believe it or not, I saw a glimpse of President Obama's entourage. Yes, the US President is here in KL y'all.

At the KL International Book Fair, much to my surprise, by chance (though nothing happens by accident really) I met a poet who very much reminds me of my teenage years. You may recall from a posting about the Penang Bridge in which I mentioned a poet who would literally shout out his poetic lines at the Penang Bridge construction site - a place where the kampung (village) folks hang out to enjoy the afternoon until sundown. I also remembered tagging along my siblings to watch his performance at the nearby university. He is Pyan Habib. 

After 30 years, today I met Pyan in person mashaAllah. It was at a meet-the-author session where Pyan was present to promote his book - Balada Pyan Habib. The book is published by ITBM - the Malaysian Translation & Book Institute. 

   

The funny poet wrote: Senyum mau lebar, gigi mau bersih! 
meaning "grin wide and keep your teeth clean"
I sure hope I didn't have anything stuck in my teeth when I met him. LOL.

Then I met another famous Malaysian poet and singer Sani Sudin promoting a collection of his poetry Di Dalam Dalam [Inside the inside] which is also published by ITBM. As someone who studied publishing, I know a well designed book when I see one. And his book is one of those. Kudos to ITBM. As for the contents of the book, as the title suggests, it demands some deep reflection - 'Inside the inside' sounds almost like Ibn Arabi's book 'Kernel of the Kernel'. 

With Sani Sudin at KL International Book Fair 2014

Last but not least, if you have been wanting to buy the clever "Quranic Pen", go check it out at Darul Andalus booth on Level 4, PWTC. The KL International Book Fair runs from 24th April to 4th May 2014.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah

Allah Karim