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Indonesian books, crossing continents
Indonesia is a culturally rich country, as evidenced by the growing number of literary works
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Indonesia is a culturally rich country, as evidenced by the growing number of literary works.
However, at the international level, Indonesian letters are still underappreciated ' something that can be attributed to the dearth of local literature available overseas in English or other languages.
Andrea Hirata is among a small number of Indonesian writers who have distributed their work globally.
His Laskar Pelangi, first published in Indonesian by Bentang Pustaka in 2005, appeared in English as The Rainbow Troops: A Novel, translated by Angie Kilbane, in 2013.
The translation, which won an award from the New York Book Festival 2013 in the general fiction category, has served as a stepping stone for the author to greet the world.
Laskar Pelangi sold more than 5 million copies in Indonesian alone. Now, the book is available in 18 languages ' including English, German and Turkish ' and has been distributed in more than 100 countries around the globe.
Other works from Andrea already or soon to be released globally include Laskar Pelangi's sequel, Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamer), Bunyi-bunyi Ganjil (Strange Rhythm) and Nyanyian Sungai Linggang (The Lonely Linggang River).
Andrea said the door to distributing his works globally opened in 2010.
'At that time I read an announcement in an American literary magazine, Washington Square Review, which is published by New York University. I then sent my short story, entitled Dry Season, to the magazine and my piece was published by the magazine in its Winter/Spring 2011 edition,' Andrea says.
'Because of Dry Season, I was contacted by several literary agents in the US, expressing their interest to know about my other writing. At that time, I hired a great agent, the Kathleen Anderson Literary Agency. Since then, all matters regarding international distribution have been handled by my agent.'
John H. McGlynn, the founder of Lontar ' the only foundation in Indonesia that focuses on literary translation ' said the small number of Indonesian works in translation shows the country is in dire need of a national translation center so that the nation can promote itself through literature.
'Most countries that aren't well represented in the world have a translation funding program. Indonesia has never had one before,' McGlynn says. 'It's really important to put Indonesia on the map as a source of inspiration and a source of literature.'
He said it was common for people abroad to talk about the last book that they have read. 'They judge you by your literacy.'
McGlynn noticed the Indonesian literary scene has improved, with more works becoming available over the last five to 10 years. 'But what is thought of highly abroad may not be thought of highly here.'
Lontar itself can translate about 20 works a year, McGlynn says.
'The problem is that Indonesian isn't taught in many schools abroad, so we don't have many native-speaker translators of Indonesian to English,' McGlynn says.
'I've worked with 100 to 150 translators over the years, but there are about only a dozen ' 10 or 12 ' that I really trust. It's about literature ['¦] For literature you need someone who knows literature and someone who writes really well in that language.'
Nung Atasana, a literary agent for the Borobudur Agency, said that having an author's works translated into English helps with international licensing.
'It will be easier for your original titles to enter most overseas markets. It is always an advantage to have English version of your selected titles and transform them into e-books,' he says.
Nung, a former editor of Gramedia Pustaka Utama publishing and former international marketer for Gramedia Publishers, also had more advice.
He says that there are about 5,400 books about Indonesia advertised on Amazon.com, most in English and written by foreigners or in collaboration with Indonesians.
'More than 1,500 Indonesian titles on various topics by Indonesian publishers have been successfully sold through licensing,' Nung says.
