Every literary work always marks its era, without exception. Nevertheless, the innovator forges their own path, boldly rejecting conventional rules. Chairil Anwar, a 20th-century Indonesian poet, pioneered the liberation of Indonesian poetry from all forms of constraint and structural rigidity … [Read more...]
Will South-east Asia ever win its first Nobel Prize in literature?
October 21, 2025 by
South-east Asia, with a population of over 700 million, has exactly zero Nobel laureates in literature out of the 122 awarded. Have no worthy writers come out of the region or are the prize’s opaque processes unfair, unadventurous, unenlightened and simply unbothered by a far-flung and variegated … [Read more...]
The Universe Unfolds: Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2025
October 2, 2025 by
A Celebration of Global Storytelling The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) is set to return from October 29 to November 2, 2025, with a stellar lineup of Indonesian and international storytellers. The festival's theme, "Aham Brahmasmi – I Am the Universe," invites participants to explore … [Read more...]
Indonesia Celebrates Literature Day with Taufiq Ismail Tribute
July 13, 2025 by
In commemoration of the 12th Indonesian Literature Day, the Ministry of Culture held a special ceremony at the Plasa Insan Berprestasi, Ministry of Education and Culture complex Wednesday, (25/06/2025). The highlight of the event was the launch of a six-volume book collection honoring the 90th … [Read more...]
Resisting oppression with speculative fiction: Anselma’s path to Nebula Awards
June 28, 2025 by
June has been a month of blessings for Anselma Widha Prihandita, who won a Nebula Awards on June 7 for her novelette Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being, just days before earning a PhD in language and rhetoric from the University of Washington in the United States. She is the first … [Read more...]
