The Legacy of SBJ

An exciting new book about Salleh's life and literary journey is now available.

SALLEH BEN JONED - TRUTH, BEAUTY, AMOK AND BELONGING by Anna Salleh will be launched in Sydney, Australia on 4 July

The event will also be streamed on Zoom - register here.

At the end of 2023 the book was launch at the George Town Literary Festival in Penang, and at Cult Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. Read a report of the KL launch by Ramli Ibrahim here, and powerful speech given by one of the speakers, Sharon Chin here. Catch photos and videos of the event on SBJ's Facebook Page.  Check out The Star, The Edge and BFM interviews with Anna about the project.

Connect with us to find out more about the book and where to get it.

A few snippets from the KL launch:

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE BOOK:

"It’s a treasure for generations of Malaysians. The spirit and poetry of Salleh Ben Joned is life-giving."

- Sharon Chin, artist​

"Brilliant, utterly compelling... This is essential reading."

- Gareth Richards, researcher, writer, editor and founder of Gerakbudaya Bookshop - Penang

"... Sepucuk surat cinta seorang anak perempuan kepada ayahnya. Ia juga surat cinta kita kepada salah seorang penulis Malaysia yang ulung — Salleh Ben Joned. Naskhah ini merupakan antara naskhah paling penting pernah diterbitkan dalam dekad ini bagi dunia perpuisian Malaysia. Penyajak muda wajib membaca Anna Salleh seiring karya Salleh Ben Joned."

- Jack Malik, Penyajak, Projek Rabak

“Meticulously compiled and written by his devoted daughter, Anna Salleh … not just an expert, but passionate about her subject.

- Ramli Ibrahim, Sutra Foundation​

"The book gives testament to... recalcitrance? Degil-ness? of love? of.. sweaty soil, thighs wrapped in sarong, sambal belacan, rantau abang janda baik batang berjuntai, realness the amok that sits just below the gut, not just of SBJ but his friends too, giants Usman Awang, Syed Alwi, Latiff Mohidin, Lat. There's a baton being passed..."

- Yee I-Lann, artist

    ****

5 July 1941 - 29 October 2020

SBJ may have left the earthly realm for the ‘grand reception in the ecstatic freedom of paradise where all true poets belong” (to quote his friend Antares) but he lives on in our hearts and minds. 

Other SBJ-related happenings include....

In October 2023 ASWARA became the first to stage SBJ's play The Amok of Mat Solo. Some interesting Malay-language articles about the production here and here. Check SBJ's Facebook page for photo and video posts of the production.

In August 2023 the Malay-language literary magazine Dewan Sastera featured Salleh, describing him as 'A Truly Independent Artist' ('Seniman Merdeka Sejati').

Salleh originally wrote for Dewan Sastera back in the 1970s when he first came back to Malaysia after 10 years in Australia. He wrote about all kinds of worldly topics in Malay under the editorship of his mentor Usman Awang. But years later Salleh moved away from writing in Malay because he felt he had no audience among his Malay bretheren. It seems that is changing and that many younger-generation Malay readers appreciate what Salleh's writings have to offer - even today.

In 2022 Buku Fixi released a reprint of the first edition of SBJ's best selling book of poetry Sajak-Sajak Saleh - Poems Sacred and Profane. More on this below

People often think there's a typo in this title - why not 'Sajak-Sajak Salleh'? 

As the author himself has previously written:

'Saleh' in the main title has more than one meaning - and all of them have a place in this bilingual collection of poems, a collection which is in some ways quite 'unusual' (one of the meanings of saleh).

The poems in this book are distinguished by their variety of forms, tones and points of view. Quite a few are light and humourous, others are heavy and a bit demanding. The reverential (one of the related meanings of saleh) are mingled with the sardonic and satirical; the sacred married to the profane. Some of these poems will no doubt shock readers who are trapped in narrow preconceptions and conditioned thinking.

There is variety here, yes - but all of them are stirred, in their different ways, by a common faith - faith in life, and an impatience with dogmas and modes of thinking which betray the divine energy of being.

Thanks to Amir Muhammad for having the idea to reprint the book in an affordable format, with a new introduction (in Malay) by poet Jack Malik and a funky new cover by artist Shika Corona. Now in it's second print run - get your copy now! 

Other books by Salleh include his second book of poetry Adam's Dream, his playscript The Amok of Mat Solo, and his books of essays, As I Please and Nothing is Sacred. All are sadly currently out of print but stay tuned for news about reprints. 

It's really wonderful to see Salleh's poetry being embraced by younger generations.

For example, in 2021 Malaysian-Australian author, rapper and poet, Omar Musa, released Killernova, a book of poems and woodcuts, published by Penguin, which was dedicated to Salleh's memory.

In the same year another book Discourses, Agency and Identity in Malaysia, an academic text edited by the late great Zawawi Ibrahim, Gareth Richards and Victor T. King, published by Springer was also dedicated to SBJ's memory.

The fact that these books come from such vastly different spheres is an indication of just how far and wide SBJ’s influence was.

We asked the authors to pen a few words to explain the reasons for the dedications and this is what they said.

Omar Musa wrote ...

 “I will not claim to have been close to Salleh but his mark on me was indelible. I met him at several formative moments in my life as I was finding my way, not only as that strange chimeric creature, a Malaysian hyphen Australian, but as a poet. I think the poem ‘Ingat’, (in which I’ve tried to interpolate some of his own words!), will better capture some of my feelings about him (see images below). As I mention in this poem, when I was seventeen, in 2001, he marked a particular Malay saying in Kit Leee’s book ‘Keli Dua Selubang’, for me to remember, but I didn’t write what the actual saying was. It read thus: ‘permata jatuh di rumput pun gilang’ — ‘a gem will sparkle even in the grass.’ Basically, true worth will reveal itself. I often think sadly of the people I’ve known, outsiders, eccentrics, brilliant true believers who dedicated themselves to art for their whole lives for little pay or recognition, so, so necessary to the sustenance of an arts scene, only to be lost and forgotten in the tall grass of time. Salleh died a few months before I started putting together my new book of artworks and poetry, ‘Killernova’. I know that many people cherish and celebrate Salleh and his achievements, but I dedicated my book to his memory to give my personal thanks, and in the hope that the gem may continue to sparkle.”

Zawawi Ibrahim, Gareth Richards and Victor T. King wrote...

“Our book ‘Discourses, Identity and Agency in Malaysia: Critical Perspectives’ is dedicated to Salleh Ben Joned with this simple and heartfelt inscription:
‘In memory of Salleh Ben Joned (1941–2020), a fearless writer and public intellectual.’

Salleh Ben Joned died not long before we were putting the finishing touches to the manuscript. His death touched us greatly. As we write in the preface of the book, ‘his untimely passing leaves an enormous gap in the world of critical discourse’. For us, Salleh was a rebel with a cause. Through his poetry, essays, plays and much else he articulated an immanent critique of what ailed Malaysia—by speaking truth to power, by questioning the given shape of things. And, in doing so, he offered a vision of another possible world, of a genuinely multicultural society, of a living culture that grows naturally. Many of the essays in our book engage with the critical terrain that Salleh courageously addressed and which will resonate for a long time. Our hope is that a younger generation, equally courageous, will offer creative attention to the legacy of Salleh—that they will continue to explore the hope that our world, if we look differently, if we respond differently, is differently possible.”