Lejen Press merupakan sebuah syarikat penerbitan buku alternatif urban Malaysia telah menerbitkan buku-buku dalam bentuk novel dan antologi cerpen.
Kebanyakannya merangkumi pelbagai genre dengan sentuhan penulisan yang terkini, juga lebih ekspresif dan berani.
Sesuatu yang amat dibanggakan bila usaha kita selama ini dilihat dan menarik minat pihak luar. Sesuatu yang patut kita banggakan.
Antara keratan yang ditulis didalamnya,
A rival publisher, Lejen Press, has had one of the biggest hits so far, a novel called “Awek Chuck Taylor.” Written in a combination of street slang and text messages, it has sold about 40,000 copies, making it a superstar of independent publishing here.
The narrator, Hafiz, is a Malay slacker, a college dropout who is usually broke, is often profane and recounts his adventures chasing multiple girls at the same time. “Awek” is slang for girl, and Chuck Taylor refers to the Converse sneakers worn by a character who declares herself an agnostic and a fan of books on communism and anarchy.
The novel does not explore such concepts in any depth. But openly talking of abandoning Islam in Malaysia could lead the religious authorities to impose a stint of rehabilitation.
The author of “Awek Chuck Taylor,” Nomy Nozwir, 31, who writes as Nami Cob Nobbler, said it was based loosely on his own life. “There are people who tell me off,” he said in a phone interview. “They say my writing is too vulgar. But the fact is, I am not hiding anything.”
Azwar Kamaruzaman wrote his first manuscript when he was 18, a sympathetic portrayal of a prostitute’s son, and titled it “Babi,” the Malay word for pig. Muslims consider pigs unclean, but Mr. Azwar said he had picked the title to encourage readers not to judge a book by its cover or, for that matter, people by their appearance. Several bookstores have refused to stock the book based on its title alone.
His mother, a small-town schoolteacher, was taken aback by the title, too. But she came around after reading the novel.
“I’m trying to rebel, but not much,” said Mr. Azwar, now 21 and enrolled in college. “I’m not brave enough. I’m still studying.”
The publishers of this new pulp fiction solicit manuscripts, or at least first chapters, through social media. The offerings are then read by a panel of writers and readers, who are paid in free books. The authors get no advances but collect royalties of 10 percent to 20 percent of sales.
Retail prices are kept low compared with those of competing English or Chinese books, at 20 ringgit, or about $5.50, each. Publishers promote the works on social media with writing contests and book prizes, giving readers the sense that they have been invited to an exclusive club.
Though some officials have voiced concerns that this tide of cheap fiction will have an adverse effect on Malay grammar, the government appears to be paying little attention.
Last year, Lejen became the first of the independent publishers to open a brick-and-mortar outlet: a shop in a Kuala Lumpur suburb that hosts readings and book releases, often with live bands, and sells T-shirts emblazoned with its logo.
Aisamuddin Asri, a former semiconductor engineer who founded Lejen, said officers from the Home Ministry had come by several times, following up on public complaints. But they left without taking any action.
Sumber : http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/world/malaysians-seek-escape-in-pulp-fiction-as-governments-grip-tightens.html?_r=0
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