Indian-origin Malaysian poet releases first book

An Indian-origin Malaysian poet has launched her first book "Taboo" creating quite a buzz among the creative arts community here, a media report said on Thursday.

The book, published by Perfect Binding, is the culmination of many years of poetry work that Melizarani T. Selva has performed on Malaysia's spoken word scene -- a performance-based poetry rendition focusing on word play and story-telling, The Rakyat Post reported.

Amid applause and laughter, 25-year-old Selva presented three poems from her book at the launch in Selangor state recently.

"I have always wanted to write a book. When I was young, my father told me that every man was worth a book and I believed that very strongly," she was quoted as saying.

"My book is a compilation of several years of spoken words done on stage along with those that have never seen the stage," Selva said.

"'Taboo' is divided by five elements that include the Hindu goddess Aditi, Greek goddess Aphrodite, Helen of Troy, Eve and Greek Titan Atlas," Selva explained.

"Each element represents a theme and poetry that I was going for including love, identity, misfortune, tragedy, strength and courage," she said.

Selva is a spoken word artist, educator and journalist based in Kuala Lumpur.

She was the first runner up at "The National Singapore Slam" and "Ubud Writers and Readers Festival".