Saleha binti Abdul Rashid (24 July 1937 – 26 December 2023), better known by her pen name Salmi Manja, was a Malaysian novelist, poet, and journalist. She was among the first Malaysian professional women writers and best known for her 1960 novel ''Hari Mana Bulan Mana'' (What Day What Month).
Femininity, women's issues, and Islam are recurring themes in her work.
Biography
Salmi went to Darul Maarif Arabic-language school and Tong Chai English School in Singapore. In 1956, Salmi attended a writing course offered by the Malay writer
Harun Aminurrashid and became a member of the
ASAS 50 group along with
Usman Awang.
Before her career as a journalist and writer, Salmi worked as a religious teacher in her former school Darul Maarif during which time she contributed works of
poetry to a number of local magazines. Salmi later became a journalist for ''Semenanjung'' and
Berita Harian.
In April 1958, Salmi married the noted novelist and poet
A. Samad Said
Abdul Samad bin Mohamed Said (born 9 April 1935) is a Malaysian novelist and poet. In May 1976, he was named by Malaysia literature communities and many of the country's linguists as the Pejuang Sastera iterary Exponentreceiving, within the fo ...
and moved from Singapore to join him in Kuala Lumpur. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she published five other novels and two anthologies of short stories and poems. She continued her career as a journalist, working with Cahaya Lembaga and the Selangor Islamic Women's Association.
Salmi died on 26 December 2023, at the age of 86.
Selected works
Novels
*1960, ''Hari Mana Bulan Mana'' (What Day What Month)
*1968, ''Rindu Hilang Ditapak Tangan''
* ''Sayang Ustazah Sayang'' (A Pity, Ustazah, a Pity)
Collection of short stories
*''Daun-daun Berguguran'' (Fallen Leaves)
See also
*
Adibah Amin
Khalidah Adibah binti Amin (born 19 February 1936), known professionally as Adibah Amin, is a Malaysian writer, columnist, teacher, translator and actress.
Biography
Born in Johor Bahru, she graduated from her English-Medium secondary schoo ...
*
Dina Zaman
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 exten ...
*
Fatimah Busu
Fatimah Busu (born January 1943) is a Malaysian novelist, short-story writer, and academic. She is one of the leading contemporary authors of fiction in the Malay language, actively publishing since the 1970s. She is also the foremost Malay-lang ...
*
Khadijah Hashim
*
Siti Zainon Ismail
Siti Zainon Ismail (born 18 December 1949) is a Malaysian novelist, short story writer, poet, and academic. She is best known for her multi-genre novel, ''Pulau Renik Ungu'' (The Island of Purple Crocus, 1995).
Life and work
Early life and educa ...
References
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1937 births
2023 deaths
Malaysian novelists
20th-century Malaysian poets
Malaysian women novelists
Malaysian women poets
Malaysian people of Malay descent
20th-century novelists
21st-century novelists
21st-century Malaysian poets
20th-century Malaysian women writers
21st-century Malaysian women writers