KUALA LUMPUR: Poets need to be given proper recognition and appreciation if they are invited to present their works, said 14th National Laureate Prof Dr Siti Zainon Ismail (pix).
Siti Zainon, 69, said event organisers should be fair in making payments for such performances just like how entertainment artistes have been rewarded.
She stressed that creating or producing works such as poetry and presenting it in public was not an easy task.
“When poets are given a certain task, he or she needs to do research to produce poems that fit the occasion and deliver them with emotion and passion,“ she said after appearing on the ‘’Ruang Bicara’’ programme on the Bernama News Channel (BNC) last night.
Siti Zainon was announced as the 14th National Literary Award recipient by Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik on Sept 3.
Siti Zainon, 69, who hails from Gombak, Selangor, has written 25 poetry works, short stories (10), short story anthologies (seven), poem anthologies (five) and novels (three).
She has also produced 18 scholarly research books, 21 research essays in book chapters and 21 essays in monographs, journals, documentation and magazines.
The 14th National Literary Award ceremony is expected to be graced by His Majesty Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on Sept 21 in the capital city. — Bernama
