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Seno Gumira Ajidarma
Writer
An author of short stories, essays, and movie scripts. He is also known as a journalist, photographer and lecturer. He won the 1997 S.E.A. Write Award (Southeast Asian Writers Award). Some of his well-known short stories are Manusia Kamar (1988), Penembak Misterius (1993), Saksi Mata (1994), Dilarang Menyanyi di Kamar Mandi (1995), Sebuah Pertanyaan untuk Cinta (1996) and Iblis Tidak Pernah Mati (1999).
Seno has been writing fiction since the age of 16 and began working as a journalist when he was 19. He has published more than 30 books since the 1980s when he emerged as a prominent short story writer in the genre known as sastra koran (newspaper literature).
Seno’s short stories often both document everyday life and criticize contemporary social, cultural and political conditions. He has been a consistent advocate of free speech and freedom of publication, writing about sensitive issues, including military violence in East Timor in the stories of Eyewitness and in his 1996 novel, Jazz, Parfum dan Insiden (Jazz, Perfume and an Incident). Other subject matter has included the so-called “mysterious killings” in East Java in the early 1980s, and instability in Aceh.
Seno’s credo is “When journalism is silenced, literature must speak. Because while journalism speaks with facts, literature speaks with truth.”
His writing styles are varied, from reportage and realism to fantasy. When asked in 2001 whether he is a journalist, a short story writer, a poet or a political commentator, and about whether his work is surrealism, magic realism, fantasy or postmodern journalism, he said simply, ‘Call it whatever you want. It’s what I do.’ In 2014, he launched a blog called PanaJournal that featured human interest stories along with various journalists and communication professionals.1
Book(s)

“Anak ini Mau Mengencingi Jakarta?”
("This Kid Wants to Urinate all over Jakarta?”)
Anthology
222 page(s), Penerbit Buku Kompas

Drupadi
Novel
152 page(s), Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Negeri Kabut
Collection of Short Stories
160 page(s), Grasindo

Saksi Mata
Collection of Short Stories
168 page(s), Bentang Pustaka

Sepotong Senja untuk Pacarku
Collection of Short Stories
220 page(s), Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Eyewitness: Short Story
Collection of Short Stories
123 page(s), Lontar Foundation

Di Tubuh Tarra, dalam Rahim Pohon: Cerpen Pilihan KOMPAS 2014
Anthology
220 page(s), Penerbit Buku Kompas

Tiada Ojek di Paris
Essay Collection
210 page(s), Mizan Publishing

Kitab Omong Kosong
(The Book of Nonsense)
Novel
456 page(s), Bentang Pustaka

Un Soir du Paris
Collection of Short Stories
144 page(s), Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Cinta di Atas Perahu Cadik: Cerpen KOMPAS Pilihan 2007
Collection of Short Stories
166 page(s), Penerbit Buku Kompas

Negeri Senja
Novel
243 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Jazz, Perfume & the Incident
Novel
185 page(s), Lontar Foundation

Pistol Perdamaian
Collection of Short Stories
182 page(s), Penerbit Buku Kompas

Dunia Sukab
Collection of Short Stories
160 page(s), Penerbit Buku Kompas

Jakarta 2039
Collection of Short Stories
82 page(s), Galang Pustaka
In the Headlines

Jakarta Post / What Media Says
Mar 20, 2019

Literary Hub / As Seen On
Mar 08, 2019

Jakarta Globe / As Seen On
Sep 11, 2017

ABC Radio National / What Media Says
Nov 06, 2015

Conversation / As Seen On
Oct 14, 2015

Jakarta Globe / As Seen On
Jun 09, 2015

PopMatters / As Seen On
Feb 16, 2015

Southeast Asia Program Publications at Cornell University / Papers
Oct 01, 1999
At a Glance
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