an ocean of becoming

Literature from the Indonesian Archipelago Melani Budianta & Manneke Budiman an ocean of becoming

i an ocean of becoming An Ocean of Becoming: Literature from the Indonesian Archipelago Literature from the Indonesian Archipelago Copyrights to the translations herein are held by their translators Copyright to this edition © 2018 The Lontar Foundation All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from The Lontar Foundation Jl. Danau Laut Tawar No. 53 10210 www.lontar.org Compiled and with an introduction by Publication of this book was made possible with funding from Melani Budianta and Manneke Budiman the Directorate for the Arts of the Directorate General of Culture, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Republic of Indonesia. Including literary work by Ben Sohib, Godi Suwarna, Intan Paramaditha, Cover illustration: DesignLab Lily Yulianti Farid, Lioe Ie Tan, M. Iksaka Banu, Indonesian edition printed by ……………………. Margareta Astaman, Norman Erikson Pasaribu, ISBN No. 978-979-xxxxxxxx and Zubaidah Djohar and translations by Kadek Khrisna Adidharma, Heather Cunrow, Stephen Epstein, George Fowler, H. McGlynn, Safrina Soemasidradja Noorman, Tiffany Tsao, and Grace J.T. Wiradisastra ii iii is only one exception—in the works of Godi Suwarna, a poet who writes in Sundanese, a language originating in West Java. Translated into English, Dutch and French, the linguistic diversity will be : transformed, if not reduced, for a global audience. Curated within the framework of the Europalia Indonesia An Ocean of Becoming event in 2017, the nine writers have been selected under certain Melani Budianta & Manneke Budiman guidelines. All of them have been published in at least one anthology, preferably with some pieces previously translated into a European language. Indonesian literature, like the natural and social landscape of the The authors are to have strong communicative appeal for a wide country, is heterogeneous and fluid, reflecting traditions as old audience, as they are expected to perform for the Europalia audience. and as new, and as mixed, as the lifestyle of its population. It needs From the curator’s perspective, the selection is to represent the volumes of collected work to convey the richness of contemporary diversity of Indonesian voices, in terms of geographical spread, Indonesian literature. gender, and ethnicity. In line with the main focus of Europalia Out of this bulk of materials, only a few names—such as the Indonesia 2017, priority is given to writers voicing the relevance Nobel Prize nominee —stand out globally. of ancestral inspiration, colonial-postcolonial experience, and the The revisiting of political trauma, such as the 1965 anti-communist biodiversity of a maritime culture. purges, and the rise of women writers in the past two decades, has brought more exposure to contemporary Indonesian writing. But Poetry: Orality, Writing, and Performance the promotion of Indonesian literature is still Java-centric, as Java island and especially the capital city of Jakarta, are the center of Of the four poets selected in this anthology, Norman Erickson global access. represents a poet anchored in the tradition of Western literary This anthology aims to widen the horizon of exposure, by modernity. The use of free verse, the allusion to Greek mythology, selecting authors from diverse regions, from Java to , Aceh, and Christianity, the theme of alienation and loneliness lurking beneath , including lesser known writers with their own creative urban modern lifestyle, the self in search of meaning—are all there capabilities. The anthology introduces various thematic frames to in Norman Erickson’s poetry. His are poems to be read in solitary, discuss the works, showing diversity in Islamic expression, different critical reflection. This type of modern Indonesian poetry can be ways of representing gender and sexuality, cultural hybridity, and traced back to senior poets such as , Toeti multiple positionings of cultural ‘others’ within the nation. In its Heraty Noerhadi, and younger poets such as Nirwan Dewanto. It has poetry section, the anthology highlights distinctive aspects of orality developed in line with the reflective and spiritual poetry of the Sufi and performative tradition in modern literature. tradition handed down from earlier Sufi poets, from With the selection of nine writers—five prose writers and to Abdul Hadi W.M. four poets—the anthology can give only a tiny glimpse of the Closely connected and intersecting with this type of poetry is the cultural diversity of a country with a population of more than popularity of declamation, the act of reciting and performing poetry 240 million people, inhabiting over 13,000 islands and speaking with dynamic modulation of voice and bodily gestures. Indonesian 300 languages. The original works are written in the Indonesian poetry written in Indonesian, as well as in other local languages, has language, Bahasa Indonesia, colored by diverse local idioms. There strong auditory appeal, a characteristic that stems from the rhyming vi vii oral poetic tradition called . The works of well-known poets oral tradition. The four poets selected here also show the multi- such as and W.S. Rendra maintain this auditory dimensional nature of Indonesian literature, not merely as belles- element and dramatic voice in their free-verse poems, which makes lettres, but as the intersection of music and theatre, ritual and their work popular in declamation competitions nationwide. social activism. The works of the three other poets in this anthology lie in the intersection of poetry as a written literature and as a repertoire for Literature, Ecology and the Hybrid Cultures performance. Godi Suwarna’s poems, written in the Sundanese of the Archipelago language, which is known to be highly melodious, are strong in their sound-scape. His poem “Grand-Prix,” for example, The works of the poets mentioned above, and the prose writers, audibly embodies the noise of the street life. City sound-scape is reflect critical awareness of the socio-cultural conditions and represented in its multi-linguality, with popular music in English surrounding natural environment of the Indonesian archipelago. blazing through mass transportation and the melodious Sundanese The poem of senior poet , “Give me Sumba,” uploaded chanting framing the scene. Can such poems be translated? Many in the Europalia Indonesia website, for example, evokes the sunny of Godi Suwarna’s poems are basically oral, like music, and they grassland of the savannah, with neighing horses and the cry of herders. are supposed to be heard in their original language. In fact, Godi Zubaidah Djohar’s poems about Aceh are filled with the aroma of Suwarna’s poetry reading has always been a performance, with strong the seashore. At the same time, while their works evoke the local theatrical aspects, incorporating costume, background music, and color of the culture and their place of origin, they do not represent traditional chanting. In this anthology, the poems, unfortunately, a particular region in a fixed way. Instead, the poets’ biographies will be reduced to their verbal meaning only. and their work in this anthology reveal the cross-cultural exchanges Like Godi, Tan Lioe Ie is a performer, mixing poetry and music. and the hybrid formation of Indonesia in a globalized era. He has published musical albums, adapting his (and also other The poems of Godi Suwarna, a poet residing in a small town in poets’) poetry into music, with him playing the solo guitar. On stage, West Java, do bring about the atmosphere of the West Javanese local he sings, chants, and dramatizes his poems into a choreographed culture through the use of and diction. Yet, performance. At the same time, Tan Lioe Ie also writes haiku-type instead of the nuance of melancholic flute—a dominant sound of poems, with calculated syllables and rigid forms. In this aspect, the rural Sundanese music—his poem, “Grand Prix” as discussed above, words, written in in Latin script, are treated mixes traditional chanting with the roaring of race cars. This is the like ideographic Chinese characters, with each word representing an world where urban development is both in tension and at the same image—like haiku-inspired modernist poems. Resembling Ciam Si, time mixed with the local, traditional voice. Similarly, Tan Lioe Chinese prophetic cards used in temples, Tan Lioe Ie’s haiku-type Ie, a poet from Bali, one of the best known tourist destinations poems have been used by some Chinese as such cards. in Indonesia, does not represent Balinese tradition. Instead, his Some people actually place the poetry book on the family altar. poems are suffused with reference from Peranakan Chinese culture.1 A number of Zubaidah Djohar’s poems, like Godi and Tan Lioe Zubaidah Djohar, who is an ethnic Minangkabau from West Ie’s, are mixed with local Acehnese chanting, and lend themselves Sumatra, writes about Aceh, in North Sumatra. Her poems are strongly to be performed orally, at times combined with traditional rich in Acehnese diction, folklore, and music. It is to note here music and dance. With strong feminist activism as her background, Zubaidah’s lyrics show more direct messages, and strong pathos.

The poetry section in this anthology shows this continuing 1 Peranakan Chinese is a term referring to Indonesians from Chinese background, with a dialogue and interplay between Western literary modernity and long history of migration, and whose culture shows assimilation to local culture.) viii ix that coming from the matrilineal tradition of the Minangkabau From Aceh, Makassar, and the Betawi cultural landscapes, the culture, Zubaidah is highly empathetic of the sufferings of women stories and poems express multiple voices of the Muslim majority. and children in Aceh. A region wracked by long and violent in Indonesia has never been monolithic. Even today there conflict which ended in one of the worst natural disasters, the is still ongoing debate on whether Islam came to the archipelago 2004 tsunami, Aceh is depicted in Zubaidah’s poems as a zone of straight from the , brought by Arabic traders, or by way ecological and man-made disasters. For her, though, the meaning of Persia and , introduced by Gujarati merchants, or whether of ‘ecology’ is not restricted to nature only. Human beings are an it was brought to Java by Admiral Zheng He from Ming , important and inseparable part of ecology. The fact that Aceh had who happened to be a Muslim, when he landed on Java Island. It is been devastated by armed conflict, with thousands of lives violently believed that the popularity of Islam among the inhabitants of the taken, significantly contributed to the destruction of its ecology, archipelago was largely due to its ease and flexibility in adapting itself which includes human ecology. Her poems, therefore, are also a with the existing local culture, which was predominated by Hindu loud call for genuine peace and the end of violence. and Buddhist cultures. As a result, the face of the archipelagic Islam is fundamentally different from that in the Middle East. Islamic Diversity As transnationalism becomes an emerging global phenomenon in the last few decades, there has been a tendency to forget that The theme of diversity is also strongly reflected in Lily Yulianti Islam in the Indonesian archipelago has evolved in complex and Farid’s short stories. The setting of Lily’s story “Kitchen” is Makassar diverse ways. Western media tend to portray Islam in the world as in South Sulawesi, with a majority Muslim population. One a singular entity with a set of rigid doctrines. The works of Ben character in the story is a female Christian cook from the Molucca Sohib, Godi Suwarna, and Lily Yulianti Farid demonstrate that the islands in Eastern Indonesia, where the majority is Christian. The opposite is true. Their works explicitly or implicitly carry messages relationship woven by the three female protagonists with diverse and reflections that are unmistakably Islamic without resorting to backgrounds symbolizes the theme of solidarity, as the women preaching or pontificating. Readers familiar with Islam will be able confront patriarchal power structures in politics and economics, to recognize the spirit of Islam as manifested in a discursive level or which erode the family and the nation through corruption and as it becomes part of the social practice of writing, and at the same inter-group conflicts. time be dazzled by its distinct polyphonic expressions in various Another writer who addresses the issue of religious diversity is works that are foreign to the mainstream voice of Islam typically Ben Sohib, a fine young writer who produces short stories, many of expressed in the Arab world. which show the need to deal with Islam in a more relaxed manner. The works of these writers cannot be simply labeled as “Islamic” His stories critically poke at the moral hypocrisy, superficiality, and in a reductive sense. For them, it is more like a spiritual pilgrimage, irony of a rigid and literal interpretation of Islam in the daily lives an effort to bring Islam down to earth and internalize it in their of common people. Humor and self-mocking strongly characterize thoughts, words, and creative explorations. It has much more Ben Sohib’s works, which suggest that, to be religious in this profane to do with every day spirituality than religiosity, and this is what world, one does not need to be always defensive or oversensitive. the term “Islam ” (Islam of the Archipelago) refers to, Sohib, who is of Arab descent, explores the various ways in which in contrast with “Islamism” or with mainstream Middle Eastern Islamic teachings and values can be “glocalized” — to be made Islam, for that matter. universal and local at the same time. Thus, we often see him bring in the Betawi culture of the indigenous Jakarta population to give color to his stories. x xi The Others Within All of these make up what is commonly called the “Chinese problem” in Indonesian history. However, the way Margareta The term “others” in the anthology refers to the issues of minorities Astaman, also known as Margie, discusses the long legacy of this within the heterogeneous population in Indonesia. Among these “problem” on her blogs, popularly accessed by young readers, and are the unseen sexual minorities. The island of Java as well as later compiled into popular non-fiction books, is surprisingly other region in are historically home to multiple light and humorous, albeit highly critical and reflective. Margie gender perspectives. The Bugis ethnic group in South Sulawesi, for represents the younger generation of Indonesians with Chinese example, perceive five genders instead of only male and female. The background, who approach the future of Indonesia as a nation state five includes female with masculine orientation, male with feminine that has “unity in diversity” as its official slogan, with unrelenting traits, and androgyny, or bissu, the only gender that is considered to directness, and at the same time, optimism. have the transcendental power to be a ritual priest. In the climate of moral conservativism that spread globally after the events of Closing Remarks: The Past in the Present September 11, 2001, however, openness in expressing sexuality has been restricted. Instead, the control and policing of the body, M. Iksaka Banu’s historical fiction in this anthology connects the especially female bodies, have been on the rise. cultural dynamics of the present, social power structures, and the The works of Intan Paramaditha and Norman Erickson speak othering of minorities within the colonial past. His stories also show to the theme of regulated gender and sexuality in contemporary the complexities of social realities that defy simplistic generalization. Indonesia. Intan’s story on the traditional dangdut singer, a Iksaka’s two stories are taken from his work on the colonial musical genre which is usually performed with sensual movements East Indies, written from various points of views. His narration of the body, addresses this issue. Norman Erickson’s poems deconstructs the clear-cut binary opposition of the oppressor and channel the anguish of the , amidst homophobia in the oppressed. One story, “Pax Nederlandica,” is written from the the urban landscape. perspective of a Dutch leftist, progressive journalist with a strong Besides sexual minorities, the racial other in contemporary empathy towards the natives. Similarly, the second story dramatizes Indonesia is the Chinese minority, which makes up less than ten the internal intrigues within the Dutch military body against the percent of the whole population. As exemplified by Tan Lioe Ie’s backdrop of the Chinese massacre in Batavia in 1740. By dedicating works, the Chinese have taken part in the cross-cultural dynamics the story to the Chinese victims in May riot of 1998, M. Iksaka Banu of the Indonesian archipelago. Betawi traditional customs, local draws a postcolonial reflection, connecting the historical event to culinary traditions, production in Java, and various local the legacy of the “Chinese problem” in present-day Indonesia. martial arts have been enriched by Chinese cultural influence. From M. Iksaka Banu’s historical fiction to Margareta Astaman’s However, as suggested by M. Iksaka Banu’s historical fiction, “A blog essays, lies a bridge from the past to the present, or more precisely Shooting Star,” there were moments in the past that contribute a window to see the past in the present. The social realities depicted to the “othering” of the Chinese. Among these historical factors in the stories and the literary esthetics of the works compiled in this are: the segregation of Chinese as a buffer between the colonial anthology are the entry to learn about the way Indonesians process power and the “natives”; a pattern of massacre and scapegoating; a long history of cross-cultural dialogue with the world, the hybrid the Cold War legacy of associating the Chinese with the communist mixture of the old and the new, the modern and the traditional. threat; the exclusion of the Chinese from politics during the New This anthology covers various genres and styles. The poetry ranges Order government; and the social construction of the Chinese as from Norman Erickson’s lyrical poetry, Godi Suwarna’s chanting, a rich minority. Tan Lioe Ie’s prophetic quartets, to Zubaidah’s peace oratory. The xii xiii prose includes Intan Paramaditha’s feminist rewriting of horror and mystery, M. Iksaka Banu’s historical fiction, Ben Sohib’s tales of humor in daily lives, Lily Yulianti Farid’s stories of family pathos, and Margareta Astaman’s blog essays. Although by no means exhaustive in its coverage, the collection suggests the heterogeneity of themes and styles in Indonesian contemporary writing. That being said, this anthology cannot do justice to the long history of Indonesian literature, with its oral traditions, written classical manuscripts in Old Javanese, Buginese, Malay-Arabic scripts, literature published by the popular presses since the mid 19thcentury, literature nurtured by Dutch Indies colonial publications, and the revolutionary and post-independence modern literature. This anthology does not provide readers with sufficient acknowledgement of canonical writers and works of these previous periods. Even within contemporary writing, these ten writers might not occupy a central stage. At the same time, the anthology consciously selects and combines discrete works of writers to construct for world readers a space for an ocean experiencing a contemporary Indonesia. The Indonesia that the anthology presents is just one version among many. This book, with its three different editions—in Dutch, French, and English— of becoming offer three different channels to hear diverse voices articulating the struggle of a nation that never stops redefining itself.

xiv 1 Ciam Si: vVerses of Prophesy

Lioe Ie Tan 26 Killing and being killed by time Amid effort and certainty Without complaint, seasons pass Finding power in powerlessness Lioe Ie Tan, a writer and musician, was born in Denpasar, Bali. His poems are strongly 2 colored by Chinese myths and rituals, As the cock crows in the morning haze and have been published in international The star of fortune flashes by in haste literary magazines, such as Coast Lines, Les Eyes in deep slumber, trapped in the dark Banian, Orienttirungen, and anthologized in 26 Eyes waiting, ready to catch the light poetry books. He has performed worldwide in literary festivals and residential programs. 9 His poems have been translated into English, Cursed by the season, the river dries up Dutch, French, German, and Mandarin. In Boats can sail it no more his poetry-music albums, such as Kuda Putih, With the patience of a hermit in the mountain Exorcism, and Kuda Putih Remastered (2012), Waiting for a thousand days of sun he composed music for his poems and the works of a senior poet, Umbu Landu 3 Paranggi. He has founded Bali Rock and Hunting the sky brings hunger Blues communities and is active in literary From seasickness springs thirst communities in Bali. In chasing the wind, comes desire A king is merely a slave

29 The preacher preaches the sword The king commands the sword Translations by J.T. Wiradisastra The merchant sells the sword

42 43 Exorcism

The soul’s fire melts the sword Lions tread on this earth’s throne Your footsteps crush the ribs of the poor 44 Be off with you Three million lanterns light the way Three joss sticks bow to the sky I am the sorcerer of the East Three eyes guide the ankles And with my whip of white mane hair Troubled soldiers thrust their swords in vain Will flog you if you don’t go away

Be off with you 45 The lake doesn’t own the passing boats What! Are you hissing, too? Fish are raised for the fishermen You forget Not owning yet still possessing I can be more poisonous Loss drifts away, yields multiply Than any snake

Once you dwelt with swine 12 Now you invade the dark recesses in the souls of the weak The moonstruck fish forgets the water Jumps, then flounders, on parched earth Be off with you The fish embraces the moon in the water My spell is cold, like the forehead of a wind Its shimmering body is caressed by the moon light The sweat of the seven seas

Exacerbates the pain of your wounds 6 The eye of the needle seeks a thread Be off with you The eye of the sky leads the traveler Go back to your swine The eye of the storm corrals the wind Be off with you The eye of the mind harnesses longing Be off!

44 45 Abracadabra

The clinking of foreign coins Abracadabra swallows the ring of priests’ bells Abracadabra Their glimmer blinds the heart’s eye Abracadamnation The dark heart that chants a spell: Abracadamnation Abracadbra And thus the sea loses its shore And the temple loses its god. To whom should these offerings now be given? “To me,” a voice replies “But bring me something else. I don’t like offerings for the gods.”

Abracadara Everything can be arranged Abracabra Everything can be changed

The air has thorns, is polluted by its rotting self Grey clouds darken the face of the sky Among the blades of grass giant crickets beat their drums challenging smaller crickets to an unequal fight

If with just an abracadra everything can change, give us fresh air to expand our chests, give us room to cry freedom

46 47 The Night of Lantern Light

Lanterns. Here is the dance of the winged dragon, here, in this land. The land in which I live. The place where the wind first touched me.

Is it your razor-sharp eyes that are skinning me alive? Are you possessed or drunk?

Bury your head, imagine the world as our skin with the ants nesting in our eyes.

The body is not eternal The soul is taken in flight by the dragon on this night of lantern light when the fortune in the palm of your hand is indecipherable.

48 49 Lily Yulianti Farid “Joyce and the Angel” (Jois dan Malaikat) was first published, in Indonesian, in Lily Yulianti Farid, Ayahmu Bulan, Engkau Matahari; Publication History of Texts Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2012. “Kitchen”(Dapur) was first published in Lily Yulianti Farid,Makkunrai ; Makasar: Nala Cipta (in alphabetical order by first name of author) Litera, 2008. Their English translations were first published in Lily Yulianti Farid, Family Room (John H. McGlynn, translator); Jakarta: The Lontar Foundation, 2010.

Lioe Ie Tan Ben Sohib “Abracadabra” (Sim Sim Salabim) was first published, in The story, “Hajji Syiah” (Haji Syiah) was first published, in Indonesian, in Bali Post, 1993 (date unknown). “Exorcism” and Indonesian, in Koran Tempo, April 8, 2012. “How Nasrul Marhaban “Night of the Lantern Light” (Malam Cahaya Lampion) were first Died and Is Remembered” (Bagaimana Nasrul Marbahan Mati published in Tan Lioe Ie, Malam Cahaya Lampion, Yogyakarta: Bentang dan Dikenang) was first published in Koran Tempo, 15 June 2014. Pustaka, 2015 and “Ciam Si: Verses of Prophecy” (Ciam Si: Puisi- Their English translations first appeared in Ben Sohib: Haji Syiah puisi Ramalan) was first published in Tan Lioe Ie, Ciam Si: Puisi-puisi Ramalan; Denpasar: Penerbit Buku Arti, 2015. and Other Stories; George Fowler, translator. Jakarta: The Lontar Foundation, 2015. M. Iksaka Banu “Pax Nederlandica” (Semua Untuk Hindia) and “A Shooting Star” Godi Suwarna (Bintang Jatuh) were first published, in Indonesian, in M. Iksaka The poem “Microcosm” (Jagad Alit) was first published, in Banu, Bintang Jatuh; Jakarta, Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2014. Indonesian, in Jagat Alit; Bandung: Rachmat Cijulang, 1980. Their English translations first appeared in M. Iksaka Banu,A Shooting “A Letter to Aki Caraka, the Old Messenger” (Surat Keur Aki Star (Kadek Krishna Adidharma, translator); Jakarta: Kepustakaan Caraka) was first published inSurat-Surat Kaliwat; Bandung: Geger Populer Gramedia, 2015. Sunten, 1983. “Grand Prix,” and “Malay Orchestra” (Orkes Malayu) first appeared inBlues Kere Lauk; Bandung: Geger Sunten, Margareta Astaman 1992, and “Ujang’s Starting-School Poem” (Sajak Si Ujang Lebet “Suddenly Superior” (Mendadak Mayoritas) and “Different since Sakola) was first published in Sajak Dongeng Si Ujang; Ciamis: Birth or Born to be Different” (Beda sejak Lahir atau Dilahirkan Titikdua, 1996. untuk Berbeda) were fist published in Indonesian, in Margareta Astaman, Excuse-Moi; Jakarta: Penerbit Kompas, 2011. Intan Paramaditha “Knife and Apple” (Pisau dan Apel) and “The Obsessive Twist Norman Erikson Pasaribu (Goyang Penasaran) were first published, in Indonesian, in “Curriculum Vitae,” Scenes from a Beautiful Life (Keindahan Eka Kurniawan, Intan Paramaditha, Ugoran Prasad: Kumpulan hidup), “Sergius Seeks Bacchus” (Sergius Mencari Bacchus), “He Budak Setan; Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2010. Their and the Tree” (Ia dan Pohon) and “What the Dead Want from the translations first appeared in Intan Paramaditha: Spinner of Living” (Yang Diinginkan yang Mati dari yang Hidup) first appeared, Darkness & Other Tales; Stephen Epstein, translator. Jakarta: The in Indonesian, in Norman Erikson Pasaribu, Sergius Mencari Baccchus: Lontar Foundation, 2015. 33 Puisi; Gramedia Pustaka Utama: 2016.

116 117 Zubaidah Djohar “Because You’re a Woman” (Karena Engkau Perempuan), Rapa’i Geleng: Tambourine Dance (Rapa’i Geleng), “Teach Me to Forget” (Ajarkan Aku Melupakan), “In the Land of 7,000 Skirts” (Di Negeri Biographies of Editors & Translators 7000 Rok), and “Building a Boat in Paradise” (Memahat Perahu di Pulau Nirwana) first appeared, in Indonesian, in Pulang Melawan Lupa: Kumpulan Puisi Bisu tentang Perempuan Aceh. Banda Aceh: Lapena, 2012. Earlier versions oftheir English translations were published in Zubaidah Djohar, Building a Boat in Paradise (Heather Cunrow, translator); Yogyakarta: Insist Press, 2015. George Fowler co-authored Pertamina: Indonesian National Oil and Java, A Garden Continuum in the early 1970s. He has translated Marah Rusli’s Sitti Nurbaya, The Rose of Cikembang by Kwee Tek Hoay, Ceremony by Korrie Layun Rampan, A Conspiracy of God-killers by Triyanto Triwikromo, short stories by Azhari, Ben Sohib and Gunawan Maryanto and poetry by Taufik Ikram Jamil. His translations from Chinese include Old Town by Lin Zhe, The Golden Road and Life under Mao Zedong’s Rule by Zhang Da-Peng and A Devil’s Mind by Gang Xueyin. He has a B.A. from the University of Toronto and an M.A.I.S. (China Studies) from the University of Washington.

Grace J.T. Wiradisastra is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. She teaches a range of courses, among others “Research Methodology in Language Teaching and Interpreting “but her favorite course is “Creative Writing: Poetry.” She is both a literary- and sworn legal translator.

Heather Curnow is a writer, translator, and curator who divides her time between Tasmania and Yogyakarta. She has translated a collection of short stories by Azhari (Aceh), and poems by Tan Lioe Ie (Bali), Joko Pinurbo (Java), and Zesapol Caminha (Timor Leste). In 2006 she spent a month in Banda Aceh with Komunitas Tikar Pandan, a cultural and activist organization. Her recent collaboration with Zubaidah continues her work with writers from Aceh. She holds a PhD in Indonesian Literature from the University of Tasmania.

118 119 John H. McGlynn lives in Jakarta, where he co-founded and Safrina Soemasidradja Noorman is a faculty member at the serves as Director of Publications for the Lontar Foundation, Department of English Education at Universitas Pendidikan the only organization in the world devoted to the promotion Indonesia. She was initially trained to be an English teacher and of Indonesia through the translation of literary texts. Through has been a teacher since 1982. Her first teaching experience was as Lontar, he has published more than 200 books on Indonesian an ESL/Cultural Orientation teacher for Indochinese refugees on literature and culture. McGlynn is a contributing editor to several Galang island, which sparked an interest in multiculturalism and an literary journals, including Manoa and Words Without Borders. He is a awareness of her own ethnic origin. She was a lecturer at UPI until member of the Asia Pacific Writers and Translators Association 2000, when she was asked to take part in an international conference (APWT) and the Association of Asian Studies. He is also head of on Sundanese culture. Since then she has been involved in many the Literary and Translation Funding Programs of Indonesia’s activities in Sundanese cultural communities, including the Urat National Book Committee. Jagat poetry performance for the Jakarta Berlin Arts Festival in 2011 and Urat Jagat Bandung– tour in 2012 as a manager. Kadek Khrisna Adidharma is a Bali-based environmental engineer, writer, curator, and translator. His translations include Stephen Epstein Associate Professor Stephen Epstein is the Don Quixote by Goenawan Mohamad and Shooting Star by M. Iksaka Director of the Asian Languages and Cultures Programme at Banu. He currently works as a hotel manager in Batur, Bali, and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, and served as the creates customized itineraries for discerning travelers to Indonesia. 2013–14 President of the New Zealand Asian Studies Society. He has published widely on contemporary Korean society, literature, Manneke Budiman teaches literature and cultural studies at the and popular culture and translated numerous pieces of Korean and Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia. He did his PhD in Indonesian fiction, including the novels Who Ate Up All The Shinga? by Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His Park Wan-suh (Columbia University Press, 2009), The Long Road by research interests are popular culture, comparative literature, Kim In-suk (MerwinAsia, 2010) and Telegram by Putu Wijaya (Lontar and gender and equality. His publications include Words in Motion: Foundation, 2011). Language and Discourse in Post- Indonesia, co-edited with Mikihiro Moriyama and Keith Foulcher (2012); Reimagining the Archipelago: The Tiffany Tsao is a writer, translator, and literary critic. After Nation in Post- Indonesian Women’s Fiction (2013); and “Emerging spending her formative years in and Indonesia, she moved Women Writers in the Reformasi Period” in Yvonne Michalik and to the United States where she received her PhD in English from Melani Budianta (eds), Indonesian Women Writers (2015). UC at Berkeley. She now lives in Sydney, . Her writing and translations have appeared in Lontar publications, The Sydney Review Melani Budianta, who earned her PhD degree in English of Books, Cordite Poetry Review, Asymptote, and the anthology Books Actually’s Literature at Cornell University in the United States, is a literary Gold Standard 2016. Her translations of Dee Lestari’s novel Paper Boats critic and a professor of literary studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Laksmi Pamuntjak’s novel Aruna and Her Palate are forthcoming at the University of Indonesia. The author of numerous scholarly from AmazonCrossing. Her translation of Eka Kurniawan’s short papers, she recently co-edited, with Yvonne Michalik, an anthology story “Caronang” was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize. Her of short stories with interviews and scholarly essays on Indonesian debut novel The Oddfits was published in 2016. women writers titled Indonesian Women Writers (Berlin: Regiospectra 2015). She has conducted extensive research on the issues of gender and postcolonial studies.

120 121 an ocean of becoming Literature from the Indonesian Archipelago

Indonesian literature, like the natural and social landscape of the country, is heterogeneous and fluid, reflecting traditions as old and as new, and as varied, as the lifestyle of its population. Unfortunately, few of the country’s authors are known outside its borders. This anthology aims to widen that limited horizon of exposure with the inclusion of literary work by nine talented authors from a variety of regions.

This anthology covers various genres and styles. The poetry ranges from Norman Erickson’s lyrical poetry, Godi Suwarna’s chanting, Tan Lioe Ie’s prophetic quartets, to Zubaidah’s peace oratory. The prose includes Intan Paramaditha’s feminist rewriting of horror and mystery, M. Iksaka Banu’s historical fiction, Ben Sohib’s tales of humor in daily lives, Lily Yulianti Farid’s stories of family pathos, and Margareta Astaman’s blog essays.

From historical fiction to blog essays, there is in the work herein a bridge from the past to the present, or more precisely a window to see the past in the present. The social realities depicted in the stories and the literary esthetics of the works compiled in this anthology are the entry to learn about the way Indonesians process a long history of cross-cultural dialogue with the world, the hybrid mixture of the old and the new, the modern and the traditional.