A few months ago, Indonesia was a featured country at the 2019 London Book Fair, following a similar showcasing of Indonesian literature at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2015. Is this a reflection of an expanding and globalising literary scene in Indonesia? Are more diverse voices being heard inside and outside the country, and what are the challenges for making sure that the stories are not lost in translation?
To talk about these topics and more Dr Jemma Purdey speaks to young writer and poet Norman Erikson Pasaribu. Norman won the 2015 Jakarta Arts Council Poetry Competition and was a finalist in the 2017 Khatulistiwa Literary Award for Poetry. In 2017, he received the Young Author Award from the Southeast Asia Literary Council. His book of poetry ‘Sergius Seeks Bacchus’, translated by the award-winning translator, Tiffany Tsao, is published in Australia by Giramondo Publishing (2019).
In 2019, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Deakin University and the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from Singapore Management University and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.
Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight. Catch up on previous episodes here, subscribe via iTunes or listen via your favourite podcasting app.
