Shih-Li Kow's short stories explore grey areas of Malaysian life

‘When people think about writing, they often just think it’s the work of the author ... It’s the publishers, agents, translators and readers. It’s about all the little things that they do,’ says Kow. Photo: The Star/Aina Amirah

“Do you consider yourself an author first and foremost, or a reader?”

Quite the chicken-and-egg type of question, but author Shih-Li Kow answers without hesitation: “I’m both – you cannot separate the two.”