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World Book Day celebrated with online festival
World Book Day 2020 – Indonesia Online Festival will be streamed on Zoom and YouTube until May 2.
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Fifty speakers from different fields are featured on 'World Book Day 2020 - Indonesia Online Festival' that will be held until May 2. (Shutterstock/Yulia Grigoryeva)
P
erkumpulan Literasi Indonesia (Indonesian Literacy Association) is celebrating World Book and Copyright Day, which falls on April 23, by conducting a series of online events.
Held under the World Book Day 2020 – Indonesia Online Festival, 30 events will be streamed on Zoom and YouTube daily at 10 a.m., 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. until May 2, which is known as the country’s National Education Day.
Fifty literary figures are involved in the event, including Indonesian author Akmal Nasery Basral. On April 24, he will be featured in a session dubbed Sastra Bencana Sebagai Katarsis di Era Pandemi (Disaster Literature as Catharsis in Pandemic Era) at 4 p.m.
Akmal’s 15th work, Genggam Cinta or Te o Toriatte, is being featured as a series in Indonesian Japanese-language newspaper The Daily Jakarta Shimbun. The novel narrates the story of Meutia Ahmad Sulaiman whose family died in the tsunami that devastated Aceh in 2004.
Read also: 9 Indonesian book translations to read on World Book Day
Traveler and author Trinity will share her experience in Profesi Penulis yang Enggak Ada Matinya (Writer as A Timeless Profession) on April 25 at 8 p.m. Trinity is the author behind The Naked Traveler book series, which explores her lively traveling experiences to various countries in the world.
On April 27 at 8 p.m., film critics Ekky Imanjaya and Hikmat Darmawan will discuss Tujuh Buku Tentang Film (Seven Books about Film).
Education and Culture Ministry Culture Director General Hilmar Farid will also deliver his view in the Perbukuan dalam Gerak Pemajuan Kebudayaan (Books in Cultural Advancement) session on May 2 at 8 p.m.
The complete schedule of the festival is available on the community's Instagram account.
From 2006 to 2011, World Book Day events were held in Indonesia by Forum Indonesia Membaca (Indonesia Reading Forum).
“This year, while carrying on the World Book Day event from Forum Indonesia Membaca, we want this to be a national-scale tradition to commemorate books and literature,” said Wien Muldian, head of Perkumpulan Literasi Indonesia in a statement. “However, considering the pandemic, we've planned an online festival where we can interact with as many participants as possible and with wider communities."
World Book and Copyright Day was initiated by UNESCO to “promote the enjoyment of books and reading”. (wir/wng)
