'Literature is a coping mechanism, it can change lives,' says Malaysian poet Jack Malik

The story of Jack Malik’s love affair with poetry starts, ironically, with lost love. Eight years ago, he was heartbroken. A relationship of his had just gone south. Weighed down by the emotion, Jack decided to take to words.

“I don’t know how, but suddenly, literature became a coping mechanism. I tried prose first, but I wasn't that good. So I tried poetry instead and I found out I didn’t suck as bad," says Jack, 27, in a recent interview.