Ayam Buah Keluak and the Art of Writing: a memoir on living creatively

by Josephine Chia

Your creativity is your gift to the world.

Award-winning author Josephine Chia illustrates this in Ayam Buah Keluak and the Art of Writing, an account of her own emotional journey of becoming a writer. She believes that creativity is a portal to our inner strengths and talents, and can help us delve deeper into more meaningful experiences.

Josephine shares the parallels between two of the things she loves most—cooking and writing. As a craft and art, each goes through similar processes of creation. Being a Peranakan, she shares her culture’s quintessential recipe, Ayam Buah Keluak, as a metaphor for her philosophy.

In this heartbreaking memoir, Josephine bares her soul so that others who are experiencing what she had gone through, will take steps to uplift, and even save, themselves. This book is her gift to them.

An inspiring read for anyone looking to delve deeper into living fully and creatively.

156 pages, Paperback

Published November 17, 2024

About the author

Ms Josephine Chia is a Peranakan and is proud of her heritage. She writes both fiction and non-fiction. She has eight published books, including Frog Under A Coconut Shell, which has a second edition in 2010 and is currently being translated into Bahasa Indonesia. Josephine was one of the winners of UK's Ian St. James Awards in 1992 and has won other literary prizes.
Josephine runs Creative Writing Courses and is Mentor to aspiring young writers.

Reviews

[aqilahreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book blends memoir, reflection and cultural storytelling in a way that quietly resonates – even if it didn’t always fully hold my focus. i found myself drifting in parts, perhaps bc it moves between personal stories, creative philosophies and bits of spiritual wisdom. its not quite linear & at times i struggled to stay anchored. 😅

still !!!!! there’s a gentle sincerity in the way josephine chia writes, esp in how she draws parallels between cooking and writing. the metaphor of ayam buah keluak – deep, complex, and lovingly prepared – feels meaningful. jts not just about creativity as expression, but as a way of healing, remembering and reconnecting. 💫

i rlly appreciated how the book foregrounds her peranakan roots. its a reminder that stories from minority voices carry weight and value, esp within our local literary landscape. that cultural grounding gives the book a strong sense of place and identity.

rounding this up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 – not a book that left me in deep reflection, but one that quietly stayed with me in moments. gentle, personal and rooted in something true. :-)

[readsbydina · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅

Award-winning author Josephine Chia illustrates this in *Ayam Buah Keluak and the Art of Writing, an account of her own emotional journey of becoming a writer. She believes that creativity is a portal to our inner strengths and talents can help us delve deeper into more meaningful experiences.

🍗 *𝐀𝐲𝐚𝐦 𝐁𝐮𝐚𝐡 𝐊𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐤 is a traditional peranakan food of chicken braised in a spicy tamarind gravy with buah keluak nuts. Ayam Buah Keluak is a malay word for chicken in buah keluak.

✍️🏽 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
Josephine shares her favourite two things, cooking and writing. the process of creating is similar. for cooking, you have to prepare the ingredients. same goes for writing. you have to plan for the plot and characters. in this memoir, she shares about her journey of becoming a writer, her life in England, and inspiration from her Mak (mother).

Buah Keluak - cyanide (poison) lies in the grooves of the buah keluak nuts. the nuts have to go through the process of soaking for days and brushing the nuts until they are safe for consumption.

Josephine told her mum that the cyanide in the buah keluak was bad. her mum replied:

"𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙙. 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙."

✍️🏻 I love to read memoirs and biographies by authors. this is my first Singapore literature (Sing Lit) read! Josephine shares about her life journey of becoming a writer, inspiration from her Mak, and tips for writing. i love the author's way of writing this book with a combination of peranakan cuisine and her journey. i do admit that whenever i picked up this book to read, i felt hungry sometimes 🤭 this book is an inspiration for novice writer, a book to find purpose in life, relatable to our daily life and journey of self discovery.

many thanks to Ethos Book for sending this book and hosting the giveaway!

ִ ࣪𖤐 rating: 4.25