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Feb 11, 2025
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Ayu Utami
Writer
Personal Web http://ayuutami.info/
Social Goodreads Twitter
She has written novels, short-stories, and articles. Saman (1998) is widely considered her masterpiece. It was translated into English by Pamela Allen in 2005. By writing about sex and politics, Utami addressed issues formerly forbidden to Indonesian women, a change referred to as sastra wangi.1
When she was a girl, after winning a beauty contest, she refused a career as a model, preferring to study and work in culture. A founding member of the Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists, a militant against the censorship of information, Ayu Utami currently works for several cultural reviews and magazines.2
Utami’s prose is lively and modern, and as such reflects the richness of the Indonesian oral tradition. The author masterfully switches between various narrative perspectives, locations and time scales, links dream sequences and old myths with descriptions of the political and societal relations in Indonesia in the 1990’s.3
Today Ayu is the co-publisher of the culture magazine Kalam.4
Book(s)

Saman
Novel
page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Indonesian Women Writers
Anthology
268 page(s), Regiospectra

Maya (Bilangan Fu #4)
Novel
249 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Saman
Novel
206 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Larung
Novel
220 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Pengakuan: Eks Parasit Lajang
(The Confession)
Autobiographical
328 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Sirkus Sastra: Bunga Rampai Bienal Sastra Salihara 2013
Anthology
428 page(s), Komunitas Salihara

Lalita (Bilangan Fu #3)
Novel
256 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Cerita Cinta Enrico
(Enrico's Love Story)
Autobiographical
244 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Le donne di Saman
Novel
224 page(s), Metropoli d’Asia

Smokol: Cerpen Kompas Pilihan 2008
Collection of Short Stories
169 page(s), Penerbit Buku Kompas

Bilangan Fu
Novel
548 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)

Saman: A Novel
184 page(s), Equinox Publishing

Si Parasit Lajang: Seks, Sketsa, & Cerita
(The Single Parasite)
Autobiographical
180 page(s), Gagas Media

Saman
197 page(s), Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG)
In the Headlines

NOW!Jakarta / What Media Says
Jan 09, 2025

SBS / As Seen On
Sep 23, 2024

Electric Literature / All Things Books
Sep 14, 2023

Asymptote / What Media Says
Dec 09, 2019

Literary Hub / As Seen On
Mar 08, 2019

Personal Blog / As Seen On
May 09, 2018

Jakarta Globe / As Seen On
Sep 20, 2017

Tribunal 1965 / As Seen On
Oct 21, 2015

Conversation / As Seen On
Oct 14, 2015

IDWRITERS / Youtube
Jul 16, 2015

International Publishers Association / What Media Says
Feb 26, 2015

Personal Blog / As Seen On
Aug 07, 2014

Publishing Perspectives / As Seen On
Jul 16, 2013

Mondiaal Nieuws / What Media Says
Aug 02, 2012

Latitudes / What Media Says
May 23, 2012

J STOR / What Media Says
Apr 01, 2007
At a Glance
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