Fireflies in Manhattan through Javanese Eyes

The Lontar Foundation has for more than 25 years now endeavored to bring quality Indonesian works of literature to an international audience with their literature- in- translation project. For the past year, one gets the feeling that Lontar is cranking up its efforts to bring even more new Indonesian works of literature to the international community to be in time for the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair two years from now. So for readers new to Indonesian works, you have a whole pile of treats waiting for you. But, you will not go far amiss if your introduction is through reading the translated works of Umar Kayam, some of which he began to write while living in New York. These are compiled in a Lontar edition titled “Fireflies in Manhattan”, a collection of pieces by the author spanning a good three decades of his prolific career.