Click here for an account in Harvard Magazine of how Harvard Library is helping to preserve Tibetan literature by digitizing works that survived China’s Cultural Revolution.

500 Words From Harriette Rinaldi

500 Words From...is a series of guest posts from authors, in which they talk about their newly-published books.  Here Harriette Rinaldi explains the background behind Four Faces of Truth, published by Fireship Press.

Harriette Rinaldi, an American, had a long career with the Central Intelligence Agency. During her time as a spook she undertook many challenging overseas assignments, and held several leadership positions – she founded the CIA’s Women’s Leadership Forum.

Four Faces of Truth is Harriette’s first novel. It is set in Cambodia, from the early 1960s until the present day – so including the time of the rise and dominance of the Khmer Rouge. It interweaves the stories of four narrators; like the four faces which stare out from the towers of the famous Bayon temple, at Angkor Thom, each narrator views the world from a different perspective.

Hem Narong, a former Buddhist monk, serves on the staff of General Lon Nol, the first President of the Khmer Republic. He sees how the General’s ineptitude and failings as a leader facilitate the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

Sophana, a young graduate of an elite secondary school, joins the Woman’s Communist Organization.  She is ultimately betrayed by the revolution she once supported, loses her entire family in the killing fields, and continues to be haunted by brooding shadows and visions of the horrors she has witnessed.

Eng Maly, a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, specializes in diseases of the mind. Maly treats Pol Pot’s wife, Khieu Ponnary, for paranoid schizophrenia and accompanies Ponnary on dangerous treks across the country on behalf of the revolution. Maly witnesses Ponnary's malign influence on her husband.

Marcel Blanchette, a French-Canadian archaeologist restoring ancient temples, must today contend with the damage inflicted on Cambodia’s architectural heritage and natural resources by the Khmer Rouge. He decries efforts by contemporary Cambodian rulers to foster national amnesia regarding the crimes of the Khmer Rouge, which he terms patriacide - the attempted annihilation of an entire country and its people, including its collective memory.

 

So:  500 Words From…. Harriette Rinaldi

Why did I decide to write this novel now, almost forty years after the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia? Because too many people throughout the world are either unaware of or have forgotten about the horrible crimes of the Khmer Rouge. There are important parallels and lessons that apply to what is happening elsewhere in the world today.

I lived in Cambodia during the 1970s, met key government as well as Khmer Rouge personalities (including the sister of Pol Pot’s wife), and was able to travel to many parts of the country despite the ongoing war between government and Khmer Rouge forces. I had a unique opportunity to observe the folly of U.S. policies and the failings of Cambodian government leaders, and the beauty of Cambodia’s amazing natural resources, in contrast to the looming specter of a nightmarish regime intent on destroying everything and everyone in its path.

I used the vehicle of historical fiction to tell this story and to present it through the voices of four fictional narrators whose lives often intersect, forming a unified mosaic. Books by historians about the Khmer Rouge are largely inaccessible to lay readers, while memoirs by Khmer Rouge survivors are often devoid of any wider historical context. My goal was to enable the lay reader to understand not only the suffering of the Khmer people, but also the overarching political and cultural influences that led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge. 

To write this book, I had access to unique source material, including the recently declassified correspondence between U.S. President Richard Nixon and Cambodian President Lon Nol. I also enjoyed full access to the treasure trove of information found in the Khmer Rouge secret archives in the 1990s by a Yale University team led by historian Ben Kiernan, who encouraged me to write this book.

Another topic briefly touched upon by historians and journalists is the extent to which Pol Pot was influenced by his wife, who is usually described as mentally unstable or emotionally fragile. In fact, she suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. I used material from a variety of sources, including doctors who treated her in Beijing, to demonstrate just how she enabled her husband’s descent into evil while she was gradually consumed by madness. 

New & Notable (Asian Publishers)

New from Ethos Press, in Singapore, Troublemaker is a collection of journalist and blogger Bertha Henson’s columns. They represent her take on the news of the day, spanning political and social happenings in Singapore from the middle of 2012. Sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious, Bertha brings a questioning eye to news commentary, zooming in on issues that provoke controversy.  

About the Author

Bertha Henson worked in the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) stable of newspapers for 26 years, finally as Associate Editor of The Straits Times, Singapore’s national English-language broadsheet. In 2012, she left the organisation to start her own media consultancy,

Newsmakers, and to teach at the National University of Singapore. She started her blog, Bertha Harian (Bertha's Daily) the day after she left SPH, and launched Breakfast Network, a semi‐professional news and views website with friends and undergraduates in early 2013. The website closed at the end of the year because she and fellow editors declined to meet registration requirements then newly-imposed by Singapore’s Media Development Authority.

ISBN:     978‐981‐09‐1473‐8

Price:     local currencies

Format:  Paperback / eBook

Looking Back At Byron...

The 2014 Byron Bay Writers Festival has just finished.

Byron turned on mostly perfect winter weather for the Festival, attended by thousands of readers who reveled in relaxed literature by the beach at many of the sell-out sessions.

Festival Director Edwina Johnson is thrilled her first Festival Program was so well received by the local and wider community.‘The whole event ran incredibly smoothly, our volunteers once again doing Byron proud.’

According to Johnson the convivial 2014 tone was set by the gregarious Festival authors from Opening Night at the Byron Bay Surf Club. ‘Delta Kay’s welcome to country was incredibly moving – you could hear a pin drop in the room and Tim Eddy’s short film summarising our Five Writers, Five Towns in Five Days regional literary tour was a triumph. People didn’t want to leave.’

Johnson says the audience for Jeanette Winterson’s Keynote Address was so large it spilled out the back of the marquee for 10 metres.  ‘Jeanette’s speech, The Stories We Tell captivated the estimated 1000 people at her session and moved many to tears. She received a rousing standing ovation and afterwards, the book signing queue stretched out and around the bookshop.’

The crowd at the Andrew Denton and Andrew Knight conversation with Geoff Lemon also spilled out of the tent. ‘Bringing the Andrews together for a session has been a long-held dream of Festival Founder Chris Hanley and it was worth the wait,’ says Johnson. ‘The tent continuously erupted in laughter as the privileged audience listened in on the conversation between these two extraordinary men.’

Collins Bookseller Gabi Calder says the quality of the program and the willingness of the audience to engage with authors and their work resulted in a roaring trade for the book store. ‘At the end of our first day Womankind Magazine was our biggest seller. Jeff in Venice by Geoff Dyer, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson and The Stellar prize-winning book The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka by Claire Wright were also top-drawcards.  In fact, all of Jeanette Winterson’s books sold incredibly well all weekend.’

‘Bob Brown was the biggest seller of any Festival book we’d ever had,’ says Calder.  ‘Rabia Siddique’s memoir Equal Justice sold incredibly well. Malcolm Fraser’s Dangerous Allies was also a big hit and the engagement during his book signing was wonderful to watch. The Festival vibe was just buzzing and it is great to see patrons being inspired to buy so many books.’

Johnson says nearly all of the off-site feature events sold out. ‘We were still being inundated with requests to attend the sold out Liner Notes as we opened the doors. It was the talk of the Festival on Saturday morning – a brilliant literary cabaret led by the hugely talented Michael Nolan.’

It seems the Byron Writers Festival is not only a favourite for festivalgoers but also with authors. ‘So many authors pulled me aside over the weekend to tell me Byron was their favourite festival,’ says Johnson.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Finkel found the surroundings astonishing and humbling. ‘Come for the books, stay for the weather’, Finkel says. ‘It was nice to see how thoughtful people are here. It's been great. I’m glad I came.’

One of Antony Loewenstein’s Festival highlights was seeing the keynote address. ‘Jeanette Winterson was eloquent, funny and witty. She’s a writer who makes listeners love literature. Set in the beautiful, mostly sunny, Byron, authors discussed everything from Palestine to Gaza, to disaster capitalism, engaging audiences who get angry and are passionate.’

Kathryn Heyman says her biggest highlight was swimming in the ocean with Claire Wright early one morning. ‘I found the whole Festival experience to be be utterly blissful. On my way to do Salvation through Story session with Alex Miller, Shady Cosgrove with Geordie Williamson, I found myself feeling uttering transported. I was in a state of bliss. The conversation with Geordie was really fabulous, it felt rich and meaty.’

Local writer Martin Chatterton enjoyed the Evening with John Safran and Father Bob Maguire held in Lennox Head. ‘It’s great to see the Festival spreading its wings and reaching new audiences. This was the best ever program.'

The Festival also welcomes many publishing executives. Beverley Cousins from Random loves the relaxed atmosphere of the Byron Festival. ‘This is my first time in Byron and I love the way you can move easily between sessions and dip into different topics. It feels very inclusive.'

Johnson says she has so many ideas for the 2015 Festival.  ‘Even as I close the marquee flaps on this event, my mind is churning with all the exciting ideas for next year. I can’t wait to start inviting authors.’