Tash Aw’s new novel is set during Sukarno’s drive to purge 1960s Indonesia of its colonial past. In his new memoir, Abbas El-Zein charts his journey through childhood and teenage years in war-torn Beirut, before eventually leaving for the UK then settling in Australia. They talk about the effects of nations in conflict on the lives of children.
TASH AW (INTERNATIONAL) TASH AW is Malaysian by birth and now lives in London. His first novel, The Harmony Silk Factory, won the Whitbread Best First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Best First Novel Award. His second novel, Map of the Invisible World, is set in post-Independence Malaysia and Indonesia. Tash is a frequent contributor to the BBC on South-East Asian literature, film and culture.
His participation is supported by HarperCollins Publishers. tash-aw.com
ROWENA DANZIGER AM (LOCAL) ROWENA DANZIGER AM was headmistress of Ascham School (1973-2003). She has been a Member of the Board of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) since 1997 and is a Director of Crown. She is currently Chairman of the Art Gallery Foundation, has been a Director of Opera Australia since 1989 and was Chairman of the Board from 2001-2003. She is a Director of the Board of Sydney Writers’ Festival.
ABBAS EL-ZEIN has written essays and short stories about war, identity and displacement for HEAT, Meanjin, The New York Times and The Age, among others. His novel Tell the Running Water was set in civil-war Lebanon. His new memoir, Leave to Remain, tells his story of growing up in a middle-class family in civil-war Beirut. He is associate professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Sydney.