Mahfud Ikhwan

He graduated from the Indonesian Literature Department at Gadjah Mada University in 2003, with a thesis on Kuntowijoyo’s short stories. He has been writing since his college years, publishing short stories in Annida, Jawa Pos, Minggu Pagi, and several independent short story anthologies.

Between 2005 and 2009, he worked in schoolbook publishing, producing the Sejarah Kebudayaan Islam series for MI students titled Bertualang Bersama Tarikh (4 volumes, 2006) and writing the illustrated book series Seri Peperangan pada Zaman Nabi (3 volumes, 2008). His published novels include Ulid Tak Ingin ke Malaysia (2009) and Lari Gung! Lari! (2011). His third novel, Kambing dan Hujan, won the Jakarta Arts Council Novel Competition in 2014.

Besides writing and editing, he regularly writes football reviews on Belakang Gawang and Indian film reviews on Dushman Duniya Ka, while also serving as a facilitator for the Indonesian Literacy Movement Writing Workshop (GLI).