Some writings can truly have devastating effects on the reader, and Sergius Mencari Bacchus (officially translated into English as Sergius Seeks Bacchus by Tiffany Tsao) is one of those. Every word, every line, every verse Norman Erikson Pasaribu penned down on this poetry collection not only sound, … [Read more...]
In Suspicion of Beauty: On Eka Kurniawan
March 13, 2021 by
When the English-language editions of Eka Kurniawan’s Beauty is a Wound and Man Tiger were published last year, they were greeted with great critical acclaim. Beauty is a Wound made it into the New York Times’ annual list of the top 100 notable books for 2015. As a scholar and translator of modern … [Read more...]
Rahasia Salinem
March 7, 2021 by
It’s honestly not an easy book to make a review of, not because I’ve never heard of the writers before, nor is it because I wasn’t aware of its existence (I blame it on my lack of exposure to publishers other than the major ones). It’s simply because Rahasia Salinem is just too good to start to … [Read more...]
‘Hunting for Muhammad’: Feby Indirani seeks to transcend political polarization
January 25, 2021 by
Feby Indirani has distinguished herself as an author who is capable of presenting the lives of Indonesian Muslims through an intimate and sympathetic eye. Although her short stories, particularly the ones published in her debut anthology Bukan Perawan Maria (Not the Virgin Mary, 2017), also tackle … [Read more...]
The Book of Jakarta
January 23, 2021 by
‘The heart of the city was still beating, even though it’s body had been paralysed’. I’ve always wondered what it meant to describe a city as being ‘alive’. Off the top of my head I think of a pre-pandemic Friday night in Soho! But what gives a city its energy, its lifeblood, its power; what … [Read more...]