Tickling Twitter

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 02/12/2012 1:56 PM

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Noted writer Djenar Maesa Ayu comes up with another short story collection, T(w)itit!, based on her own Twitter posts.

The launch of the anthology came as a surprise for readers and fans expecting her second novel Ranjang (Bed), which has been halted for about four years due to her hectic film industry schedule.

Instead, Djenar, famous for exploring female sexuality in her writing, released the short story anthology on Jan. 14, the date of her 39th birthday.

T(w)itit! is Djenar’s fifth short story compilation, after Mereka Bilang Saya Monyet! (They Say I’m a Monkey!), Jangan Main-main Dengan Kelaminmu (Don’t Play with your Genitals), Cerita Pendek Tentang Cerita Pendek (Short Story about a Short Story) and 1 Perempuan, 14 Laki-laki (One Woman, 14 Men). Her first novel, Nayla, was launched back in 2005.

This time around, she takes inspiration from her 11 Twitter posts. With more than 63,000 followers at the time of the book launch, Djenar is widely known for her poetic tweets that are unlike the grumbling or swearing of other Twitter users.

Books derived from posts on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have been invading the shelves of many book stores in recent years.

Djenar follows the trend, but she does not let herself be carried too far. She manages to avoid boring her readers with such a book, which, as it is literally based on Twitter posts, risks having a short shelf-life if it does not expand beyond the raw tweets.

“All of those tweets can be accessed through social media, so why should I share them again to readers?” Djenar said during the launch of T(w)itit!.

She said that people sometimes misunderstand a tweet.

“A Twitter post is often considered to be a certain sign [of something]. Sorry, you’ve got it all wrong,” she said.

“When someone posts something in her or his own account, people think that the tweets have something to do with the person’s personal life.”

Instead of offering a book bluntly listing trails of online posts, Djenar smartly develops the messages into 11 beautifully written and intriguing short stories, enveloping them into an anthology centered on a female “leading role”, which she named Nayla.

Every story captures a different Nayla dealing with her own dilemma. Similar to her previous works, Djenar still inserts sexual matters in her latest book.

“Kematian tak akan pernah bisa mati” (Death can never die), “Deeper than my fear of what might happen to this country is my despair”, “I Believe in Love Without Proof” and “We’re not born to be something we’re not” are some of her tweets chosen for the stories.

Djenar dubbed the book as a fast-track project, since 10 of the stories were completed in just 10 days, while one was penned last September.

Meantime, some might think that the title itself is provocative, as it sounds like a combination of the word “Twitter” and an Indonesian word for a man’s genitals.

Djenar, daughter of renowned filmmaker and artist Syuman Djaya and actress Tutie Kirana, is aware of this issue, saying, “The title is more of an expression.”

“A [book] title can spark many comments, but you will know what it means once you’ve read the book.”

-Triwik Kurniasari