Dina Zaman Explained

Dina Zaman is a Kuala Lumpur-based writer and researcher. She is a co-founder of IMAN Research, a think tank focusing on socio-political and security matters, and a founding member of the Southeast Asian Women Peacebuilders.

She has written extensively for the Malaysian media and is currently a regular contributor to The Star, Malaysia, and The Jakarta Post. Her latest passion projects revolve around Terengganu Royal History.

Dina is the author of three non-fiction titles - I am Muslim (Silverfish Publishing), Holy Men, Holy Women (SIRD) and Malayland. King of the Sea Redux will be published by Clarity Publishing. Malayland will be published this year by regional publishers.

Key Achievements

Life

Dina Zaman's childhood was spent in Japan, Russia and other countries. She studied mass communications and creative writing at Western Michigan University and Lancaster University respectively.[1] In 2007 a collection of her columns for the online newspaper Malaysiakini.com was published in book form as I am Muslim.[2]

In 2012, she published a collection of short stories, King of The Sea. (Silverfish Books, 2012).

Her third book, Holy Men Holy Women, was published in 2017 by SIRD. Her next book, Malayland, will be published in 2024.

She has written extensively for the Malaysian media and is currently a regular contributor to The Star, Malaysia and The Jakarta Post. Her latest passion projects revolve around Terengganu Royal History.

Dina is the author of three non-fiction titles - I am Muslim (Silverfish Publishing),

Holy Men, Holy Women (SIRD) and Malayland. King of the Sea (Clarity Publishing) which was earlier published by Silverfish Books in 2012, is a republication of the title.

She has had media presence locally and abroad as a columnist since 1994 and commentator of current affairs since 2005. She has been quoted in the BBC and interviewed on Everywoman, a women's programme on Al Jazeera. She has helmed three columns: Off Our Backs (The Sun, Malaysia in 1995), Dina's Dalca (New Straits Times, 1996 to 1998) and I Am Muslim (www.malaysiakini.com, 2005 to 2006), which is now a book published by Silverfish Books. Her book is now a bestseller at Borders and Kinokuniya bookstores. Her latest book, King of The Sea, is longlisted for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award. She contributes to The Malaysian Insider and The Star. She writes on religion, society and lifestyle issues, and is known to inject ‘a sense of humour’ in her writing.

She is a recent recipient of the API Senior Fellowship and will be based in Jogjakarta and Thailand by the end of 2012. She was also the recipient of the British High Commissioner Chevening Award in 1998 and came home to Malaysia in 1999 with an MA in creative writing from Lancaster University.

Works

Non-fiction

Fiction & Poetry

External links

Notes and References

  1. Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf, 'Zaman, Dina', Who's Who in Contemporary Women's Writing,ed. Jane Eldridge Miller, Routledge, 2001.
  2. Farish A. Noor, Of hookers, hustlers and holy men, The Star Online, 25 March 2007