There were moments in what Garin called his American life when he felt the urge to stop himself, while walking down some familiar street, caught in the midst of a moving crowd, staring at faces, places, as if he were lost, or otherwise found. Then, with both hands tucked in his pockets, he took a … [Read more...]
Writings
Trials of fiction: We lose the battle again
A half century after the first defeat of the imagination of a short story in court, leading to the imprisonment of leading literature critic HB Jassin, we have lost a second battle against irrationality, arrogance and backwardness. Again we are witnessing the curbing of creativity that should … [Read more...]
Two new poems by Mikael Johani
chapel hill stuck a pin in your back bone haven’t you noticed chapell hill hasn’t got its own passaic* look at its spine: a spine-tingling web of fronts running thru shop-windows caribbean curry & parota shops, pawnshops selling prototypes of shark burgers pickled, shredded, chili-ed … [Read more...]
Violet
Violet and I had our own language. She was the belle of the entire school and I was the overly emaciated girl everyone loved to mock. I was very bony and tall and the boys at school kept telling me I'd make a great pretzel stick. I didn't like to eat - food made me nauseous - so I had to drink … [Read more...]
Why Are Indonesians Being Erased from Indonesian Literature?
What we lose when Indonesian writing is evaluated according to Anglophone preferences. When I entered the world of Indonesian literary translation several years ago, I was blissfully unaware of how dysfunctional it was. (Nor did I suspect that I would eventually become so troubled by its … [Read more...]
