For a time, publishing was a scary thing to do in Malaysia

Author of The Return, K.S. Maniam, has just completed a novel and now conducts creative writing courses. Photo: The Star/Sia Hong Kiau

Read Part 1

Some years ago, I came across a report of an interview with a diaspora writer who had recently won international acclaim with his first novel. When asked by the local journalist whether he had been influenced by other Malaysian novelists, he replied that he never knew there were Malaysians writing novels in English, or words to that effect.