Off the beaten path: Five underrated Indonesian authors to dive into

A mysterious poet, a controversial yet humorous author and a politically charged debutante are among the country’s most underrated authors whose lives and works lay just beyond mainstream literature.

Rarely recognized outside the circles of the most voracious readers and literary critics, these writers have spent years enriching the cultural landscape with their poetry, short stories and novels. They have pushed the boundaries of language and narrative through their writings on conflict, tradition, migration and hope, which offer a means of getting to know the country beyond picture-perfect postcards.