Asef Saeful Anwar’s name seems to be more familiar among the Indonesian academia rather than among those in the Indonesian literary arena; such a lamentable fact regarding to the number of books he has ever published. Despite his occupation as a lecturer at one of the universities in the small city of Yogyakarta, Asef –…
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On 14 March 1975, a boy was born in a slum area somewhere in Strasbourg. He would have to go through up and down in life because he was born as a non-white and an immigrant. He was involved in those activities which could fill the list of the juvenile delinquency although he was considered…
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Who does not even know Hendri Yulius? A rising star whose expertise in (Indonesian) gender and queer studies is deservedly earned. He is well known not only for his non-fiction books like C*bul or Intimate Assemblage but also his fictional narration. Under the radar, Hendri (as what we normally call him) also wrote a collection…
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Most of the Indonesian literature enthusiasts may not yet familiar with Tenni Purwanti even Tenni – as what we often call her; she was one of the notable writers in Emerging Indonesian Writers, Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in 2015. Went unnoticed for some time, it later takes a while for Tenni to enrich Indonesian…
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A mother takes her daughter, a six grader to an elementary school one early morning. Instead of seeing her daughter again at home after school, the child went missing and was found dead, naked and with severe injuries around her genital several days later. The teachers in that school state that this girl was sexually…
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After Literature and Ideas Festival (LIFEs) by Salihara was held in late 2019, we got a chance to have a short conversation with Felix K. Nesi, author of Orang-Orang Oetimu, a fiction about people in West Timor that won the first place of Sayembara Novel Dewan Kesenian Jakarta 2018. In this interview, you will see…
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Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk (The Dancer) by Ahmad Tohari portrays the tumultuous days of 1960’s Indonesia through a love story between Srintil and Rasus in Paruk, a village that struggles to keep up with the changing world. The village of Paruk is rather isolated, could only be reached by traversing the network of dikes bordering the…
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Translated by Marjie Suanda. This story was included in a short story collection Not Virgin Mary forthcoming from Gramedia Pustaka Utama. It has been republished here with permissions from the author. You also can read the original in Indonesian, Rencana Pembunuhan Sang Muazin, published in Detikcom on July 15, 2017. Bukan Perawan Maria, the Indonesian edition of…
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Santa Rosa is the latest poetry book of Dorothea Rosa Herliany before she published her novel Isinga: Roman Papua. Rosa a writer got recognition in both works. She became the first person to win Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa in both categories prose and poetry in 2015. Others than those two books, Rosa published a collection of…
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“Probably there is nothing in human nature more resonant with charges than the flow of energy between two biologically alike bodies, one of which has lain in amniotic bliss inside the other, one of which has labored to give birth to the other. The materials are here for the deepest mutuality and the most painful…
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Many of you have probably seen or read about Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s powerful TED talk, “The Danger of a Single Story.” In sum, she argues that if we only hear one story about a place or a group of people then we risk stereotyping, misunderstanding, and reducing that place or people. People outside…
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Oka Rusmini is a few of the writers who managed to master three forms of fiction: novels, short stories, and poetry. This Balinese woman born in Jakarta, July 11, 1967 was first known through the novel Earth Dance in 2000. The novel is filled with Balinese culture is a trademark of Oka’s works in other…
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If we visited a bookstore recently, we can easily get the latest literary books from new authors. Those books were written by authors who, apologetically, I know almost nothing on their writing’s history. It was like they were born this early morning, when we all slept soundly. In the world of literature, which feels like…
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One of the most rewarding things about being an Editor-at-Large for Asymptote is unearthing and bringing a new life to exciting work from the countries we represent. As the Indonesia Editor-at-Large, I see my role as that of an advocate. In proposing a piece, it’s crucial to make a strong case for the work. This involves compiling…
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He said he doesn’t love writing and the process of making a book is always excruciating. But for a poet and a novelist Aan Mansyur, writing is the only way to find answers for his restless mind.
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