Labodalih Sembiring was longlisted for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize for his translation of Eka Kurniawan's Man Tiger. Labodalih Sembiring is the pen name of Muhammad Dalih Akbar Sembiring. Born in North Sumatra, the ex-features journalist currently lives in Yogyakarta as a writer, … [Read more...]
Sex in Indonesia: Menikah by novelist Jane Maryam
Jane Maryam is an Indonesian activist who works on gender and sexuality issues. She decided to embody those issues in a set of characters in a novel, including a polygamous wife, a lesbian and a transgender woman. She draws on the lives of her friends, on people she met through her work in NGOs, and … [Read more...]
Collection ‘People Without Genitals’ is equally humane as it is spooky
Short story collection Manusia Tanpa Kelamin (People Without Genitals) puts forth contemporary issues through a fictional lens Imagine if every single human being was born without sexual organs. Would we be able to stop sexual abuse and control our lusts? In the title story of her latest short story … [Read more...]
Q&A: Jesse Q. Sutanto, Author of ‘Dial A For Aunties’
Dial A For Aunties is a hilariously quirky novel that is equal parts murder mystery, rom-com, and a celebration of mothers and daughters as well as a deep dive into Chinese-Indonesian culture by author Jesse Q. Sutanto. We chat with Jesse about her latest release Dial A For Aunties, releasing her … [Read more...]
Putu Oka and Goenawan
Putu Oka Sukanta and Goenawan Muhammad reflect on Indonesia's Years of Violence and their friendship with Martin Aleida. Supplementary material for "Indonesia's Years of Violence". The following two interviews with Putu Oka Sukanta and Goenawan Muhammad were conducted online in succession … [Read more...]