For many readers, Perahu Kertas by Dewi “Dee” Lestari was not merely a novel, but a quiet companion during the uneasy years of what we now call adulting. Published in 2009, it follows university students Kugy and Keenan through friendship, love, ambition and the choices that shape their paths, a … [Read more...]
Event
Art as a Medium of Resistance
January 18, 2024 by
The tropical ‘attitude’ that brings together two regions in rejection of European colonialism With over 200 works on display, spanning the course of a stuttering twentieth-century modernity, this is something of a sprawling exhibition. Like its subject: the territories that span the eastern and … [Read more...]
IndoLit Club Sydney: Translation Forum
July 21, 2022 by
I am hopelessly behind with reviews and everything else, but the opportunity came up to attend a translation forum this morning so I jettisoned #SituationNormal… The IndoLit Club Sydney is an online book group which meets with Zoom, and (thanks to Twitter) I was able to attend their forum on … [Read more...]
Laksmi Pamuntjak: Shines through with ‘Fall Baby’
January 5, 2020 by
The audience listened attentively when Laksmi Pamuntjak, dressed in a traditional kebaya, began to read a passage of her new novel in her mother tongue, Indonesian. Only a few among the people who had come to the premiere reading of Laksmi’s new novel Fall Baby could understand the words, but … [Read more...]
Indonesia born publisher discusses the infamous Mata Hari at Florey’s
July 31, 2018 by
Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, then a Dutch colony known as the Netherlands East Indies, Lian Gouw has been a prolific writer since 1991. Her short stories and poems have appeared in such print media as Quietus Magazine, Writing for our Lives, Voices and Visions, and Reflections. Her debut novel, “Only … [Read more...]