Renowned Malaysian author Assoc Prof Dr Talib Samat died of a heart attack at Tanjung Malim Hospital early today.

He was 57.

Talib, who was also a senior lecturer at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, passed away at about 1am.

His daughter Siti Hajar, 23, told Bernama that her father was having difficulty breathing at 12.30 am before he was rushed to the hospital.

Talib was a multi-genre author, churning out novels, poetry, short stories, features, biographies and general knowledge books.

He wrote more than 50 books including ‘Panas Salju’, ‘99 Nama Allah Tersohor’ and ‘Gaya Kewartawanan Baru: Dimensi Kewartawanan dan Kesusasteraan’.

Talib won numerous literary prizes, including ‘Hadiah Sastera Johor Darul Takzim’ through a novel entitled ‘Panggilan Jihad’ in 1996 and ‘Dilema Anak Pulau’ in 2001.

- Bernama