KOTA KINABALU, Dec 5 — Azmah Nordin, winner of the prestigious second Sabah State Literature Award (ASNS), says accompanying her youngest son undergoing cancer treatment 23 years ago was an experience that will forever be etched in her heart.
The 63 year-old Azmah said she had mixed feelings when her first short story was published in Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Sabah ‘Wadah’ magazine because she had only just one week earlier lost her son who was 10 years old then.
“I was excited and sad at the same time. For six months we would commute to and fro the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for his chemotherapy treatment.
“All the time while accompanying him, I would write my novel on my laptop. There were works that were produced in that ward, winning several literary prizes,” she told Bernama.
Last August 13, after more than 30 years of being a writer and producing short stories and novels, Azmah was announced as the second ASNS recipient. The Yang Dipertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin presented the award.
The first ASNS award recipient was the late Datuk Ismail Abbas or better known as Amil Jaya.
Azmah had also won the South East Asian Writers or SEA Write Award in 2009 from the Thailand government.
She was chosen as the ASNS winner when her works which were mostly written in the narrative form won several state and national awards since the 1980s.
Among her works that were recognised at the national level were the DBP Novel award in 1986 through the novel entitled ‘Kukui’, Children’s Novel Award, 1987 (Noor Ainky Sayang), Malaysia Literary Award 1992/1993 (Dari Dalam Cermin), ESSO/GAPENA Novel Special Prize 1994 (Kuntum Perdamaian)
At the state level, Azmah won several prizes including first prize for a novel-writing competition (1989) in conjunction with 25 years of Sabah independence, the Sabah Literary Award 1988/1989 (for her novel Dukanya Abadi) and again the Sabah Literary Award 2018/2019 (Gelora Menara).
A resident of Sabah after marrying in 1973, the Kedah-born novelist was a freelance journalist with a local news agency and after gaining experience and guidance from the editor of the company, she began to dabble in writing.
“They (the editors) and several lecturers from universities in the peninsula who conducted writing workshops about 30 years ago were my mentors and at that time they were also teaching young writers,” she said adding that one of the editors then was Emin Madi.
Emin was one of the part-time reporters with Bernama in Sabah at that time.
“Using her real name as her pen name, her novel ‘Bosan’ was published in the ‘Wadah’ magazine in 1987 and that spurred the mother of three to continue writing.
The fourth of 10 siblings, said she began writing since her primary school days and had always excelled and commended by her teachers, which were among the factors that had driven her into the literary world.
“For now, I am more focused on writing novels and short stories. Once in a while, I will write literary articles,” she said adding that she would normally write in the day while at night she would hold online classes.
Azmah added that two of her novels “Timulak Kapal Perang” (1989) and “Pantai Kasih” (2014).were also used as reference and textbook for the Literary Component in Malay Language (KOMSAS).
She said besides encouragement from family members, Azmah also considered national laureates like Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Shahnon Ahmad, Datuk Seri A Samad Said, Prof Emeritus Dr Muhammad Salleh, and other writers as her idols.
“When I was announced as the second ASNS recipient, I was so grateful and touched. The services and contribution of my mentors will never be forgotten,” she said adding she is currently conducting online courses and offering guidance to budding writers through her blog. — Bernama
