Poetry without set rules: Zakariya Amataya pushes the boundaries of traditional Thai literature
by Anchalee Kongrut
http://www.bangkokpost.com
4/10/2010
Despite its title, the 2010 SEA Write poetry book, Mai Mee Yingsao Nai Bot Kawee ("Poems Without Maidens") does parade a handful of women - an old lady waiting for her lover who never arrives, prostitutes and miniskirted secretaries scrambling for a seat on the BTS, the princess of Palestine forever in exile. Between the lines on paper and inside the labyrinth of the poet's mind, they even seem to thrive so well there.
So why such a seemingly misleading title?
Is 35-year-old poet Zakariya Amataya trying to hint that his oeuvre is steeped in wry sadness - that readers should never anticipate any suggestive curve nor the tenderness of feminine beauty?
Or is the Narathiwat native with his goatee and leather beret an incurable love slave who disguises his emotional pains through a string of words? Or is the real reason simply that "Che" - Zakariya's nom de guerre - is, er, a misogynist?
"The title? Oh, it's just a word play. I had a hunch that this book would be read by a lot of people, so we picked this title, as it gives out some mysterious air," said Zakariya to a flock of reporters during the SEA Write press conference at Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok - the venue for every event related to this prestigious award.
Reclusive, ruminative and humble, Zakariya is the latest surprise to come from the SEA Write award committee, a band of Thai literary experts famously known for jolting the local circle every now and then by giving the top prize to the least expected candidate.
Sensation aside, Zakariya's win has rocked the Thai poetry scene. It is the first time the SEA Write committee has ever given this award to free verse instead of the classical styles which, with their rigid rules pertaining to the specific number of lines, syllables and rhyme schemes, have prevailed the literary landscape since Thai poetry was born some seven centuries ago.
This year, the judges - some of whom are traditional poets and academic experts in traditional Thai literature - unanimously voted for Zakariya's works, which incidentally, is the only free verse among the shortlisted. Will this path-breaking decision herald a big change in the otherwise dormant world of Thai poetry?
Indeed, the relationships between Thai people and their poetry have been, at least in the old days, symbiotically unique. Even before a child learned how to read and write, he or she would be reared on, put to sleep by, lullabies sung by their mothers oh so poetically. At a prime age, the lovesick lads would court their belles with improvised duets. Folk music is none other than modifications of beautiful verse. It is not an overstatement to say that Thais are poetic by nature, whether or not they are aware of this ingrained talent!
"Yet, when we talk about local Thai literature nowadays, we mostly refer to fiction like novels or short stories. People no longer read poetry, not to mention write it," lamented Zakariya during an exclusive interview with 'Outlook'.
"Thais are very very conservative when it comes to Thai poetry. We feel proud ... way too proud with our traditional poetry, so we resist change and become so defensive when anyone tries to write poems that are different," said Zakariya, who admitted the classical form of Thai poetry is not his style.
"I tend to have more feeling for contemporary art, contemporary poems ... especially works of poets after World War II. I don't like classical stuff. It is not they are not good, they are just not my thing."
Zakariya insisted he also looks up to traditional poets like Sri Praj, Soonthorn Phu or Angkarn Kalayanabhongse as maestros; their works usually make readers sense the beauty of words and feelings to the point that one even forgets all the requisite rules about rhymes and whatnots.
But traditional styled works by lesser poets, he ventured, make readers see more of the outer form, and less of the aesthetic beauty.
Apparently, Zakariya's views are shared by the current batch of the SEA Write committee.
"Free verse is actually the hardest form of poetry - that is, if you want to write it well," said Adul Chantarasak, an accomplished poet in the traditional Thai school.
"In traditional poetry, you have to find the right words that fit the rhyme schemes and structures. But in free verse, you are on your own and there are no rules whatsoever for you to follow. It might look easy to write the first few paragraphs, but a poet cannot continue writing free verse for the whole book if he is not really good," said Adul, who admitted he was awed by Zakariya's works.
Zakariya started writing poems accidentally while studying Islamic culture at a university in India.
Unlike many award-winning writers, Zakariya said he was not a bookworm as a child. Moreover, Thai is his second language, after the local Malay dialect spoken among the majority of Muslims in the deep South.
In India, Zakariya was forced to learn a third language: Arabic. Initially unable to understand lectures in Arabic, Zakariya, then 25, would scribble on blank pieces of paper to convey his train of thoughts in Thai. Later on, he found what he wrote was actually free verse.
He has since been writing in that style, first for the internet and most recently in literary magazines and local dailies.
Apart from writing poems, Zakariya also translates poems of the Middle East and by contemporary Western poets. He is planning to write a novel about his hometown, but the progress has been very slow, too slow, to be exact. "Writing a novel and writing a poem are two completely different things. With fiction, you need to let the plot and narrative carry you. But in a poem, you spend time polishing your words over and over. And I found myself always polishing words instead of working on the narrative structure," said Zakariya.
In the 83-page Poems Without Maidens, 36 poems touch on subjects as variable as the violence in the Southern provinces of Thailand and Middle East countries, universal love, religion, philosophy and God. A couple of them also show his cheeky sense of humour. Curiously, Zakariya's sources of inspiration include poets from faraway lands like Charles Beaudelaire, Illija Ladin and Octavio Paz, whose lines or words are incorporated into his own works and always with accreditation.
Poems Without Maidens is Zakariya's very first published work. But do not expect to see a sequel soon. For the poet has spent about a full decade penning those pieces in the tiny book; some in particular took him five years to write and polish, although a few were carved within hours - but that was a rare occurrence and only when his muse, tempo and mood happened to align themselves well together.
Although he has made his name known from launching online poetry blogs (http://www.thaipoetsociety.com and http://www.republicofpoetry.com), Zakariya's constant companion is a notebook in which he jots down what he sees; his inspiration and exact details such as the colour of a shirt, objects in hands, time or even the colour of the sky or the weather. The poet then transcribes his feelings in incoherent verse or simply a sentence.
He usually keeps those notes with him for days or weeks - years even. Late at night he would review those scribbles and turn them into poems if his mood and Lady Muse permits. For him, there are no deadlines, schemes or restrictions in poetry. It is as if all the man has to do is to prepare himself for the arrival of poetry. Who knows if Zakariya discovered poetry or it found him.
But does that really matter?
Probably not, especially if you read the first piece in his first book:
"I am travelling in poetry.
Poetry is travelling in me.
We are heading to the same destination."
by RedFraction
by 
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by joe bonita
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