Media Clippings

Voices of Change: The Phan Waen Fah Award and Political Literature

Mar 31, 2025 / Bangkok Post by Thana Boonlert
The Phan Waen Fah Award continues to recognize literary works that engage with politics and social issues, highlighting the power of storytelling in shaping public discourse. This year’s winners explore themes of democracy, freedom, and ethics, reinforcing the role of writers in reflecting societal challenges.

Thanya Sangkhaphanthanon, a SEA Write Award recipient, noted that inspiration can come from personal history, citing Mochtar Lubis, an influential name among Indonesian writers. His short story Portrait portrays the struggles of an old street vendor in Suharto’s New Order era, demonstrating how literature captures political realities—an approach echoed in many winning works of the Phan Waen Fah Award.

"Write about a soldier, not a war. Write about something small like Mochtar Lubis. You can't draw a map for the whole world, but can make a point," he said.

The Meru Sanur Opens Bali Berkisah 2025 with ‘Mata Aksara’, A Celebration of Culture Through Storytelling

Mar 25, 2025 / Bali News
Immersing itself in the rich tapestry of Bali’s cultural and literary heritage, The Meru Sanur proudly inaugurates ‘Mata Aksara,’ a distinguished program dedicated to the art of storytelling. In partnership with Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati, the esteemed organizer of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, this literary soirée opens the curtain for ‘Bali Berkisah 2025.’ The highlight of the evening was the exclusive launch of celebrated Indonesian author Andre Syahreza’s latest work, ‘All Because of Nirankara’ (Semua Karena Nirankara), held at the elegant Sutasoma Lounge of The Meru Sanur on Friday, March 21, 2025.

A Tale Woven from Bali’s Literary Legacy
Drawing inspiration from the 1936 classic Sukreni, Balinese Girl, Syahreza meticulously crafted a compelling narrative that intricately weaves themes of romance, economic ambition, power, and desire, set against the evocative backdrop of modern-day Bali. This novel, born from six months of meticulous research and writing in Singaraja, North Bali, stands as a testament to the enduring vibrancy of Indonesia’s literary landscape. Officially published by Kompas Gramedia, its unveiling at Mata Aksara and Bali Berkisah heralds a new chapter in contemporary Indonesian storytelling.

Indonesia joins as country partner for Kalinga Literary Festival

Mar 12, 2025 / Indian Printer and Publisher
The Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF), one of India’s literary and cultural events, announced Indonesia as its official country partner for the upcoming edition of KLF being organized from 21 to 23 March 2025. This partnership aims to celebrate the deep-rooted historical and cultural connections between Indonesia and India while paving the way for stronger bilateral relations through literature, arts, and cultural exchange.

Ina Hagniningtyas Krisnamurthi, the Ambassador of Indonesia to India will join as guest of honour, Indonesian novelist and essayist Mahfud Ikhwan, Undri – director of Cultural Promotion,  the Indonesian Ministry of Culture will join as speaker at the festival.

Rancagé awards face recurring challenges in promoting regional literature

Mar 11, 2025 / Jakarta Post by Adi Marsiela
The Rancagé awards celebrate the richness of Indonesian literature by recognizing outstanding works in regional languages such as Sundanese, Javanese, Balinese, Batak, and Lampung. Since 1989, this initiative has encouraged Indonesian writers to preserve and elevate their linguistic heritage, despite challenges in readership and public engagement.

In 2025, the awards honored five authors across different linguistic categories, reinforcing the importance of regional literature in shaping Indonesia’s literary landscape. As the Rancagé Cultural Foundation seeks wider recognition and support, these awards continue to inspire Indonesian writers to contribute to their respective literary traditions, ensuring the survival and appreciation of diverse mother tongues.

Yogyakarta’s Apsas 2025 Honoring Literary Legends

Feb 04, 2025 / RRI by Diva Rifdah Rizkia Puspitaningnala
Yogyakarta, as the City of Literature, boasts a rich history, an active literary community, a supportive environment for creativity, and the community's support. The city is the birthplace of superb literary works and a center for developing Indonesian literature.

One literary event that has helped revitalize the literary tradition in Yogyakarta is the Apresiasi Sastra (Apsas), a literary appreciation event.

The event consistently facilitates discussions and ideas on various literary works, from poetry to novels.

The 20th Apsas literary event occurred last weekend at Balai Budaya Karangkitri in Panggungharjo Village, Sewon Subdistrict, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta.

Reflections of the Feminist Movement on the Rejection of JILF: “Who Do We Work With?”

Jan 31, 2025 / Konde.co by Nurul Nur Azizah Theresia Pratiwi Elingsetyo Sanubari
Intan Paramaditha and Trend Asia have simultaneously announced their withdrawal from organizing the 2024 Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF). JILF is considered not taking a firm stance against pro-genocide sponsors in Gaza, Palestine.

The 2024 Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF) was held November 27 – December 1, 2024 brought green narrative theme. Along the event, several parties withdrew and stopped cooperating with the organization of the literary event.

JIFL, which this year aims to promote literature and culture as well as environmental sustainability, is considered not transparent by the organizers. They are also not assertive about the sponsors behind the event, who considered to be pro-genocide in Palestine.

The pro-genocide sponsors in question: Frankfurter Buchmesse and the German Federal Foreign Officer.

How children’s books are raising environmental awareness in Indonesia

Jan 07, 2025 / Eco-Business by Samantha Ho
While these cases could have substantial impacts on the environmental rights of Indonesians and their children, raising awareness about climate litigation has been challenging for environmental campaigners, said environmental lawyer Sekar Banjaran Aji, who is also a campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia.

“Climate litigation as a topic is very difficult and [complex] even for adults,” Sekar Banjaran told the Eco-Business Podcast.

In response, Greenpeace Indonesia worked with journalist and author Titah Aw and illustrator Sekar Bestari to produce a series of children’s books that simplified these topics into narratives that could be easily understood.

In this podcast, they share:

How they combined key facts and imaginative elements to tell climate stories Why it is important for stories of climate change and litigation to be told more widely What parents and children have learned from reading the books How the author and illustrator’s own experiences with nature shaped their environmental advocacy

The 2024 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival – On the Struggles of Truthtelling

Sep 23, 2024 / SBS by Dina Indrasafitri
The 2024 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival will attempt to uphold its theme ‘Satyam Vada Dharmam Chara’, or ‘Speak the Truth, Practice Kindness’ through conversations about media ethics; the perils of speaking the truth and about marginalised voices that are often left unheard.

“One of the ways that the theme materialised was looking at the media landscape and how the ‘truth’ is presented through both the mainstream media outlets and alternative media outlets and throughout the year we saw a lot of very unfortunate conflicts that revealed to us how different the stories are from two separate sides and how much we need media to be more impartial,” The Festival’s Head of International Programming Hannah Curtis said in an interview with SBS Indonesian.

A Brilliant Tribute to Indonesian Literature in GPU’s MISTERI PEMBACA TERAKHIR

Sep 23, 2024 / Broadway World Indonesia by Rakaputra Paputungan
As part of Pesta Literasi Indonesia , Gramedia Pustaka Utama hosted the show from August 30th to September 1st, 2024.

As part of Pesta Literasi Indonesia (Indonesia’s Literation Party), Gramedia Pustaka Utama hosted a theatre performance titled Misteri Pembaca Terakhir (Mystery of the Last Reader) from August 30th to September 1st, 2024. The show ran three times at Graha Bhakti Budaya. Agus Noor acted as the writer and director, with Dexara Hachika as the assistant director. Alongside the Gramedia Team, they’ve crafted an amalgamation of famous Indonesian literary works in Misteri Pembaca Terakhir.

Misteri Pembaca Terakhir tells a story about a group of friends who love to read even when literacy is at an all-time low. They lamented this as their bookstore got vandalized by hoodlums, risking closing. Then suddenly, one of them, RonRon, mysteriously disappears. This group of friends then goes on a journey to find him, discovering the truth of his disappearance through encounters with book characters that come to life.

It’s revealed that RonRon was kidnapped by a group of mysterious beings. These beings seek to eliminate all books and readers as they fear that readers are able to take hold of knowledge and truth. Eventually, the people who are loyal to reading manage to unite their power and defeat this antagonistic force. In the end, RonRon and his friends renovate their bookstore so that they can keep encouraging people to read and there won’t ever be ‘The Last Reader’.

Under the poetic stars

Aug 09, 2024 / Inside Indonesia by Caitlin Hughes
Benteng (Fort) Rotterdam is a cream-brick, red-roofed fortress complex on the historic, harbourside edge of Makassar, South Sulawesi. The seventeenth-century Dutch colonial fort does not look out of place in a part of Makassar where Chinese, Dutch, and local South Sulawesi architecture stands alongside glassy, high-rise hotels. Today the Fort is Makassar’s most famous landmark, an enduring symbol of tempo doeloe (the olden times).

When I first visited Fort Rotterdam last October it was a searing hot day at the end of the dry season and the place was eerily quiet. When I returned for the opening night of the 2024 Makassar International Writers Festival (MIWF) in late May this year, the ambience was very different. It was a clear, cool night. Crowds of people milled around the site. Someone told me that opening night is always ‘like a giant reunion’ for the local arts community and the public. There were rows of food stalls and coloured signs and banners and the main stage was decorated with bright cartoons.

Since it began in 2011, MIWF has witnessed a remarkable growth. The festival was established by the late Dr Lily Yulianti Farid, a writer and academic, through Rumata’ Artspace – a multidisciplinary ‘artspace,’ which she co-founded with prominent film director Riri Riza at the Riza family’s old home in Gunung Sari Baru, Makassar. Although some outside observers perceive MIWF to be a ‘spinoff’ event from Bali’s famous Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (established 2006), the reality is very different.