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An Indonesian writer and journalist. She has written several anthologies of short stories, a novel, TV and Film scripts. She has joined TEMPO News Magazine of Indonesia since 1989 until now. Leila live in Jakarta with her daughter, Rain Chudori-Soerjoatmodjo.1
A scholarship recipient, she completed her studies at Trent University, Canada and returned to Indonesia in 1988. Leila started publishing as a child of 12 in 1974 in children’s magazines Si Kuncung, Kawanku and Hai.
As an adult, her short stories have been published in magazines including Zaman, Horison, Matra, Solidarity (Philippines), Menagerie (Indonesia), and Southeast (Malaysia). Her collection of short stories Malam Terakhir or ‘The Last Night’ (Pustaka Utama Grafiti, 1989) has been translated into various languages. Leila’s book 9 dari Nadira or ’9 Stories from Nadira’ (Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2009), an anthology of nine stories, was awarded the Penghargaan Sastra Badan Bahasa Indonesia. Both these books are now in the process of being translated into English by Lontar Foundation under the title The Longest Kiss.
In 2012, Leila launched her new novel Pulang or ‘Home’ (Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia), which is is now in its third reprint.
Leila started her career as a journalist with Tempo News Magazine, and has interviewed dignitaries such as Tienanmen activist Fang Lizhi, Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe. Leila is currently a Senior Editor of Tempo magazine, responsible for the language column and film reviews.2
Being a journalist in Jakarta, Leila S. Chudori has enough material for her narratives at her fingertips and is personally familiar with social and political repression, since the critical and influential newspaper Tempo, for which she writes, was forbidden till President Suharto stood down and the paper again stood up.3
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