Description
About the Author

A Fiery Flesh and Other Stories is a collection of stories that expose the flimsy nature of the human heart and the frailty of the human body in various ways. A man who drowns in an emotional shower after encountering a merman who resembles his deceased childhood friend. An all-consuming passion that turns a man into a bat, and lecherously, some woman, into bakawali. A medical assistant narrates how a lost placenta of a premature infant triggers a chain of curses. A love triangle between sisters leaves a mother with no choice but to replace her daughter as the bride. A potted plant enlightens a timid woman about a sassy way to escape from her control freak mother-in-law. A burned-out housewife finds a haven where the sensual rituals of traditional massage are practised. An arsonist uses a tangle of red string to draw her husband’s fiery qi into herself.
Ismim Putera is a poet and writer from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. His works can be found in many online journals and anthologies, including To Let the Light In: An Anthology of Life and Death, Instincts: Asian Speculative Poetry 2021, Colours of Tapestry 2: Stories from Asia, Unsaid: An Asian Anthology, and recently in The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories and A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic. ‘Durian Blossoms’ won third place in the 7th Singapore Poetry Contest (2021), ‘Jantina’ was longlisted for the Malaysian Poetry Competition (2021) and Of Dugong and Seagrasses was shortlisted in the Blue-White Dot Short Story Writing Competition (2023). Nipah Nightmares, his debut novel, was published in 2023.

Authors

A Fiery Flesh and Other Stories