Saturday 5 December 2015

The Malaysian Cultural Group Talk




































































I had a good travel writing sharing session with the lively members of the Malaysian Cultural Group (MCG) this morning. MCG has been in Malaysia since the 80s and its members are mostly expatriates. They asked many interesting, and some unexpected, questions. We chatted on travel experiences, perceptions, insights and challenges. They were very interested in Islam and Muslims which created an opportunity for dakwah. Thank you so much for inviting me, MCG!


Some of the questions from the session :
1) Do Malaysian Muslims follow Saudi Arabia practices?
2) Why does a woman need a muhrim to accompany her on her Hajj/umrah?
3) Does Islam allow solo travel for women?
4) How did you go through Hajj (since you weren't wearing hijab yet at that time)?
5) What are the differences between Malaysian Muslims and Indonesian Muslims?
6) Do you like Turkey's secular concept & practice of Islam?
7) Which of the 3 Muslim countries you wrote about (Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia) did you feel least safe in? Why?
8) Are Malaysian Muslims strict? Is Saudi Arabia more strict?
9) When you go to non-Muslim majority countries, were you ever treated differently because you are a Muslim?
10) Did you travel to unwind or to learn about Islam and Muslims abroad?

‪#‎acalltotravel‬ ‪#‎rumaizahabubakar‬ ‪#‎thefemalecell‬ ‪#‎mcg‬ ‪#‎travelwriting‬ ‪#‎travelbooks‬ ‪#‎muslims‬ ‪#‎islam‬ ‪#‎malaysia‬ ‪#‎malaysianwriter‬

Interview on Virtues of Wanderlust




















My email interview with Goltune  magazine on 'the Virtues of Wanderlust ; A Female Muslim Traveler of Malaysia' has just been published. I shared my travel writing journey, inspirations and unforgettable sights, among others.

Thank you, Sara :)

http://goltune.com/article/virtues-wanderlust-female-muslim-traveler-malaysia

Frankfurt Book Fair 2015



A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys article in Malaysia @Frankfurt 2015 tabloid, published by the Majlis Buku Kebangsaan Malaysia (MBKM) - National Book Council of Malaysia as part of their initiative to promote Malaysian companies, authors and books at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015.

http://www.peopleinpublishing.com/blog/a-call-to-travel-muslim-odysseys

#acalltotravel #rumaizahabubakar


Reader's Review



An encouraging reader's review on goodread.com. Thank you!

Wanderlust: Road to Travel Writing

























I would like to thank those who came to my Wanderlust: Road to Travel Writing session on Saturday, 12 September from 5.00 to 7.00pm. It was fun interacting with a discerning and active audience.
I shared my nine-year writing journey from News From Home (short fictions) to The Female Cell (short fictions and travel tales) to A Call to Travel:Muslim Odysseys (travel stories). I also relayed my experience on finding a writer's own voice, identifying approaches to travel writing, adopting honesty in travel writing, and managing travel inspirations for future works.
The event was part of the Silverfish Festival of Cabbages 2015.

‪#‎acalltotravel‬
‪#‎solotravel‬
‪#‎travelwriting‬
‪#‎travelwriter‬
‪#‎Turkey‬
‪#‎Saudiarabia‬
‪#‎Indonesia‬
‪#‎Muslim‬
‪#‎travel‬
‪#‎travelogues‬
‪#‎malaysian‬

Friday 4 December 2015

Interview with Penang Monthly Magazine






















I love this article by Carolyn Hong in Penang Monthly magazine (June Edition) ! It captures the travel writer in me well. And I find it refreshing and satisfying when a non-Muslim reader gets and appreciates the subtle Islamic ingredients portrayed in my stories. To me, too literal a narration spoils the joy of reading and undermines readers. I hope to reach out to and touch a universal audience.
I collected two copies of the magazine at the Penang Institute, housed in a beautiful blue and yellow heritage building at Jalan Brown.

Penang Monthly Magazine

A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys is available at Kinokuniya, MPH, Borders, Times, Gerakbudaya, Silverfish and other bookstores.

‪#‎acalltotravel‬
‪#‎solotravel‬
‪#‎travelwriting‬
‪#‎travelwriter‬
‪#‎Turkey‬
‪#‎Saudiarabia‬
‪#‎Indonesia‬
‪#‎Muslim‬

Best Paper Award at APCAR-2015 in Adelaide
















A Malay Muslim Woman's Travel Narrative by Haslina binti Omar received the 'Best Paper Award' at the 1st Asia-Pacific Conference on Advanced Research (APCAR-2015) in Adelaide, South Australia. The speaker presented and discussed author Rumaizah Abu Bakar and A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys. Over 60 international speakers from various fields participated at the event from 23 to 24 July 2015. Congratulations to Haslina!

‪#‎acalltotravel‬
‪#‎solotravel‬
‪#‎travelwriting‬
‪#‎travelwriter‬
‪#‎Turkey‬
‪#‎Saudiarabia‬
‪#‎Indonesia‬
‪#‎Muslim‬


Saturday 18 July 2015

Wanderlust: Road to Travel Writing



Rumaizah Abu Bakar, author of A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys and The Female Cell, will share her own writing journey. She will stress the importance of finding one’s own voice, explore different approaches to travel writing, and delve into the need of honesty in travel writers.


Day/date: Saturday, 12 September 2015

Time: 5.00-7.30pm
Venue: Silverfish Books
2F-20 2nd Floor Bangsar Village II, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur


Queries and rsvp: rumaizah123@yahoo.com or Facebook event page




A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys - What others say:

The delicate sensibility of these stories endows them with a gentle honesty.
-- Colin Thubron, award-winning travel writer and novelist --

The stories are delightful shapes of time that leaves an impression that life is very real yet elusive, shifting between transience and permanence. The reader can choose to observe and ponder, or travel and disappear in the stories.
-- Isa Kamari, novelist, essayist, musician and playwright --

If you're looking for the frenetic, the jangling, the adrenaline-filled tales of so much modern travel writing, you've come to the wrong place. To travel with Rumaizah Abu Bakar is to voyage into a world of the quiet and understated, a place where wonder unfurls in fine detail under a gracious and appreciative eye.

-- Carl Hoffman, author of Savage Harvest (2014 NYT bestseller) --

Saturday 7 March 2015

Personal-Autographed Copies - Online Order


Get your personal-autographed copy of A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys (Journeys of a Muslim Woman through Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia) online. Please place your order at the link below and state your name for the autograph in the 'remarks' column. 


'The delicate sensibility of these stories endows them with a gentle honesty.'
-- Colin Thubron, award-winning travel writer and novelist --

#acalltotravel



Friday 6 March 2015

Curator and A Call to Travel Contest on Twitter

I culminated my week-long curator role at twt_backpacker on twitter on 5 March 2015. Two copies of my book were presented to A Call to Travel contest winners with the best 'Calling'. I kicked off a daily topic around 7.15am for seven days, inviting followers to share their own travel stories. It turned out to be a priceless experience and a sea of knowledge.



Saturday 28 February 2015

Book Launch at Marmalade Cafe

It was the most perfect book launch I could have dreamed of. My past, present and future collided. Family members, museum volunteers, writers, book lovers... Reunited with some friends from MRSM after many years. Ex-colleagues were also a big support. And interestingly,the Olive and Manna extra virgin olive oil door gifts were sponsored by a team-member-to-be at my new workplace. 

Many thanks to those who went the extra mile to be there and to help with the event; my father, Dato Abu Bakar Rautin for co-sponsoring, my uncle Ellias Saidin for the sound system, my friends, Fazlynn Nadira and Anuwar Yunus for emceeing and photography, and my brother, Mas Adli for video recording. Many thanks too to Datuk Manja Ismail for the live interview and coverage on NTV7 prime time news. 

My third book was an early present for my mother's, Datin Badariah Saidin, 70th Birthday.















Thursday 26 February 2015

Meet-the-author Session with Literature Students


A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys' first meet-the-author session was held with 27 South East Asian and Malaysian & Singaporean Literature students at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) on 26 February 2015. It was an excellent discourse, with stimulating questions from voice to style to purpose. Three stories were read out: Mail Order Bride, By the Perahu and Cotton Castle. 

Thank you Professor Dr Nor Faridah Manaf for the opportunity.









Monday 9 February 2015

A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys at Kinokuniya, KLCC


A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys is now available at Kinokuniya, KLCC. I am happy that it is given a prominent space, together with foreign publications, at the E16-01 New Arrivals section (take the entrance near the 4th floor escalator, turn left, past the counter, the rack is on the right). 

Thank you, Kinokuniya.

Book Launch - A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys


*Horrific taxi rides in Istanbul*
*Icy rain bombs in ancient Miletus*
*Sea of humans in holy Makkah*
*Wings of Angels in Madinah*
*Wisdom of wayang kulit in Central Java*
*Remnants of the killer wave in Aceh*


Family, friends, book lovers and fellow travellers,

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to the launch of my third book, A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys (Journeys of a Muslim Woman through Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia).
Join us at this casual affair and answer ‘The Call’.

Date/day: 28 February 2015 (Saturday)
Time:​​ 5.00 – 7.00pm
Venue:​​ Marmalade CafĂ©, 1F-18, 1st floor, BangsarVillage II, No. 1, Jalan Telawi Dua, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.


Please rsvp here by 20 February 2015 (Friday).

For queries on the event, please pm me or email me at rumaizah123@yahoo.com

For a taste of these tales: http://acalltotravel.blogspot.com/2015/01/taster-e-book-turkey.html

For details on the book: http://acalltotravel.blogspot.com/

To order a copy of the book online: http://www.silverfishbooks.com/buybooks/index.php?main_page=product_book_info&cPath=15&products_id=2176

#acalltotravel

Friday 16 January 2015

What Other Authors say


The delicate sensibility of these stories endows them with a gentle honesty.
-- Colin Thubron, award-winning travel writer and novelist --

The stories are delightful shapes of time that leaves an impression that life is very real yet elusive, shifting between transience and permanence. The reader can choose to observe and ponder, or travel and disappear in the stories.
-- Isa Kamari, novelist, essayist, musician and playwright --

If you're looking for the frenetic, the jangling, the adrenaline-filled tales of so much modern travel writing, you've come to the wrong place. To travel with Rumaizah Abu Bakar is to voyage into a world of the quiet and understated, a place where wonder unfurls in fine detail under a gracious and appreciative eye.
-- Carl Hoffman, author of Savage Harvest (2014 NYT bestseller) --

Thursday 15 January 2015

A Labour of Love...

After almost 4 years of a labour of love, I finally get to hold my creation in my hands. Bittersweet memories return, reminding me that though this has not been an easy journey, it has all been worth it in the end. Enjoy these travel tales. 

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank my good friends, Azo Liyana, who designed my beautiful, much-praised book cover, and Fadzlishah Johanabas, who played a big role in helping me take my travel writing to another level.

#acalltotravel







Tuesday 13 January 2015

Available at Silverfish Books



A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys - Journeys of a Muslim Woman through Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia is available at Silverfish Books from 17 January 2015.

Details:
28-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: (603) 2284 4837, Fax: (603) 2284 4839
email: info@silverfishbooks.com
http://www.silverfishbooks.com/

The book will be available at major bookstores nationwide soon.

Be the first readers!

Get your personal signed copies of A Call to Travel : Muslim Odysseys for online purchases before 5.00pm, 15th January 2015 (Thursday).  Be among the first readers :)

Order your personal signed copy here

Sunday 11 January 2015

Saturday 10 January 2015

Coming soon!

My new book, 'A Call to Travel: Muslim Odysseys - Journeys of a Muslim Woman through Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia' will be released by Silverfish Books in January 2015.

Follow this page for the latest news:

Rumaizah Abu Bakar - author