The Jakarta Post
UDO Z. KARZI (JP/Oyos Saroso H.N.) When Lampung literary figure Udo Z. Karzi was named as one of seven winners of the 2008 Rancage Literary Award, it surprised many customary leaders in his hometown of Lampung. They found it hard to believe that a foundation from another province would recognize the work of a writer from Lampung, where the literary world and local language are hardly developed and even are under threat of extinction. The awards were presented by the West Java-based Rancage Cultural Foundation in Bandung on Jan. 31 to seven people, including Udo, for their creative excellence as well as dedication to preserving local literary traditions. On its 20th anniversary this year, Rancage gave the awards to Indonesian men and women who write in languages increasingly sidelined by modernization. Udo Z. Karzi is the pen name of 37-year-old Zulkar...