Home | Writers | Contributing Authors | Books | Publishers | Media | Latest Update | What Media Says | Book Review | Translations | Story
If you are a writer yourself, help us grow the database? Get listed! — A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Max Lane

Writer / See Indonesianist


He was born in Australia and currently lives in Yogyakarta
Follow him on


A writer and researcher and translator, editor and consultant with 36 years of experience in and with Indonesia, as well as with Singapore and the Philippines and with the East Timorese community in Australia. He is an Honorary Associate in Indonesian Studies, School of Languages and Cultures, University of Sydney.

Max Lane introduced the English-speaking world to the revolutionary that is Pramoedya Ananta Toer, often speculated to be Indonesia’s best candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Lane, now a lecturer of international politics at Victoria University, was a mid-level officer working at the Australian embassy in Jakarta when he began translating Pramoedya’s Bumi Manusia in 1980. At this time, Indonesian president Suharto’s New Order Regime (the Partai Golongan Karya [Party of the Functional Groups, also known as Golkar]) was in power, propped up by foreign investment and backed by the army. It was also when heavy-handed repression was the norm in Southeast Asia, and Suharto’s New Order government was no exception. In the early 1980s, corpses began surfacing in public places as a result of extrajudicial killings. These ‘Petrus’ (Penembak Misterius, or mysterious shooter) killings were undertaken by the army to reduce the crime rate, which President Suharto openly admitted in his biography.  The Indonesian government was also involved in a bloody conflict in East Timor as guerrillas resisted the Indonesian occupation beginning in 1975.


Book(s)






About Us

For short, our main feature, the writer's directory, provides a way for writers to find one another, but more importantly, the resources provided make it easy for event hosts—especially for international event hosts—literary organizers, arts administrators, librarians, booksellers, and readers to get in touch with writers. It's a HOME FOR INDONESIAN WRITERS. We strive to break down the language barriers that have prevented Indonesian books or literature from becoming more widespread.

Questions, comments, articles, info, etc. are more than welcome. Just send us an e-mail, mention us on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook or use the contact form.


error: