IT’S not often that one gets a first-hand experience of monsters and immortals bursting from the literary world, but this year’s George Town Literary Festival (GTLF), themed “Monsters and (Im)mortals”, brought to life these enchanted beings via 55 events over three days from November 24 to 26.

One of the events exploring the theme was “The Monsters Within: Man versus Man”, a conversation that featured US poet Kosal Khiev, Malaysian transgender rights activist Nisha Ayub and Northern Irish playwright and novelist Paul McVeigh.

“I was 15 years old when I was introduced to the world of monsters. I was a lumberjack chopping down acres of trees, slaving away each day until I was 16 when I ran away,” Khiev said.

That was when he mixed with the wrong crowd and joined a gang, ending up in the middle of a turf war.

“Now look here, you’re either in the war or you are out of it, I was told.

“There was shooting, there was blood, it was brutal and I was caught for attempted murder.”

Khiev was imprisoned in deplorable conditions, facing eight months of solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, in a four-by-four room where both hands outstretched could touch either end of the wall.

It was in prison the then 19-year-old found his true calling of poetry – specifically, using poetry to raise awareness of what people like him face in a society of monsters.

“In that stainless steel box, I started to question myself, ‘Is this all your life is?’

“I had to answer, and the answer was to shape up and say ‘this isn’t it, there is more to life than this,’” he said.

“This isn’t just about me; it’s about what I can do as a collective and what I can contribute to society.”

Khiev has been selected as the first artist-in-residence with Studio Revolt, where he is collaborating on Spoken Kosal: Verses in Exile, a series of short films featuring his poetry.

Transgender rights activist Nisha Ayub explored how she was sexually assaulted during her imprisonment in 2000 and how she faced her monsters both in prison and when she was released.

She was 21 years old when she was jailed in a male prison, where she was attacked for her feminine features and long hair.

“Imagine that. The inmates made me do unspeakable things, the wardens made fun of me because my body did not conform to the norms of the society.

“I gave in to these monsters and tried to commit suicide three times in prison. Even when I got out, I tried again.

“I was so angry and scared. It was then I thought that there are others in Malaysia with problems like mine,” she said.

Nisha then established the Seed Foundation, the country’s first trans-led non-governmental organisation. She also co-founded Justice for Sisters, which provides legal aid to transgender individuals and seeks to end the persecution of the community.

Paul McVeigh explores the conflict of Northern Ireland from a 10-year-old’s perspective in his book The Good Son.

“The Good Son was originally an angry book. When I was writing this book in Northern Ireland, I saw the echoes of people dying on the streets, children separated from their families and the fear.

“Imagine the emotional recall when people moved back there after the war. Within three weeks of moving back with my family, three teenagers killed themselves,” he said.

But it was the culture in Northern Ireland to ignore these problems. That was when McVeigh took it upon himself to write the book to be the voice of youths traumatised by war.

“It is frustrating when you’re living in a society where 99% of the people see you as crazy when you do the things that the media and politicians do not about.

“If those children cannot find the words to say ‘help me, I can’t tell you what’s wrong with me’, then my God, who else is going to find those words?”

The GTLF festival, which is in its seventh year, covered other events such as workshops, book launches and readings at various locations.

Its grand finale will be held at The Canteen ChinaHouse at 9pm today, featuring comedians, poets, musicians and mystery performers.

Festival Director Bernice Chauly is assisted by co-curators Gareth Richards, a writer and editor who set up the independent bookstore Gerakbudaya in Penang; and Pauline Fan, a writer, literary translator and creative director of Pusaka. Headlining the festival is Muhammad Haji Salleh, Malaysia’s National Laureate in 1991, who delivered the keynote speech.

This year, GTLF is also accompanied by a Fringe Festival and a free public screening of You Mean the World to Me, set in 1970s Penang and the first Malaysian film to be filmed entirely in Penang Hokkien.

GTLF is funded by the Penang government and produced by the Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau with the support of Penang Global Tourism and Penang Institute.

Supporting partners include Gerakbudaya Bookshop Penang, British Council, Culture Ireland, the Dutch Embassy in Malaysia, the Belgian Embassy in Malaysia, Hong Kong Baptist University, Goethe-Institut, Icelandic Literature Center, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur, LaSalle College of the Arts, Makassar International Writers Festival, SA Writers Centre, Singapore Literature Prize, and University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. – November 26, 2017.

*The Malaysian Insight is the official media partner of GTLF.