The Indonesian poet, Sapardi Djoko Damono appears on Google Doodle today as celebrates his birthday – born on this day in Solo, Central Java in 1940. He is known as a revolutionized lyrical poet in Indonesia. Damono usually spent his childhood in libraries reading every book and started writing … [Read more...]
This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer (An Indonesian Clasic)
March 18, 2023 by
Finally, I came to read this book which is considered one of the highest achievements in Indonesian literature. Set in the end of 19th century during Dutch colonialism in Indies (Indonesia), this book highlights the injustice imposed upon Indonesians (particularly the Javanese) by the Dutch for … [Read more...]
Orang-Orang Bloomington (People from Bloomington) by Budi Darma
March 18, 2023 by
🔷️ Budi Darma is one of Indonesia's prominent modern writers. He graduated with an MA from Indiana University Bloomington in 1976. His experience and observation during his college days are the inspiration of this collection of seven short stories, titled Orang-Orang Bloomington, or People from … [Read more...]
Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk (The Dancer) by Ahmad Tohari: An Indonesian Classic
March 18, 2023 by
💃🏻 Srintil and Rasus, our protagonists, were born and grew up in a small village in Indonesia called Dukuh Paruk, which, geographically, is quite isolated. It can only be reached from the outside by traversing the network of dikes bordering the wet rice fields. This isolation, I believe, has … [Read more...]
From Newcomers and Veterans, Four New Poetry Books Worth Your Time
March 18, 2023 by
Karisma Price’s debut is rich with aphorism and rhetoric; Will Harris’s second book is a meditation on family; Gabrielle Bates’s debut borrows from fairy tales; and Ellen Bryant Voigt’s collected poems sum up a career, and a life. Starting and ending in her native New Orleans after Hurricane … [Read more...]
