Leading Australian expert on Indonesia Max Lane recounts late Indonesian literary giant Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s role in inspiring the downfall of former president Soeharto’s New Order regime through his Buru Quartet tetralogy One man come in the name of love One man come and go One man come he to … [Read more...]
Singapore Shelf: ‘Ear prostitutes’, secrets in Clarissa Goenawan’s Watersong
When she was a busy marketing professional in her 20s, Clarissa Goenawan felt she had no time to read anything except manga. One day, a colleague lent her a novel. It was Norwegian Wood (1987) by Haruki Murakami. "I thought, never mind, I'll take it home and a couple of days later I'll return … [Read more...]
Penguin releases translation of novel based on Batak culture
AWARD-WINNING writer, translator, researcher and cultural ambassador Jennifer Lindsay has translated into English Ashadi Siregar's epic family drama Rejection: A Sumatran Odyssey.The historical fiction takes readers into the jungles of North Sumatra during Indonesia's independence struggle. A … [Read more...]
Kids Read: Indonesia
The list of books we read from Indonesia is embarrassingly short. I had such a hard time finding books this week. I do have another book on the way from someone who reached out this week, so I’ll be adding that to the Picture Book List soon. In doing research, I came across this post on World Kid … [Read more...]
Driven by design: Indie publishers bring back love for physical books
Arya was 12 when he received his first book, a pirated copy of Andrea Hirata’s 2005 novel Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops), which in 2008 was adapted into a hit film. It began his love affair with reading and the 25-year-old translator’s passion for collecting books. But as the internet and … [Read more...]