Literary darling: Indonesia is the guest of honor at the 2019 London Book Fair in Kensington, London. (Courtesy of the London Book Fair)

From the legacy of colonialism, to gender and the environment, as well as marginalized groups, this year's literary scene has been a vibrant one that touched on sociopolitical issues and activism, which was particularly evident at literary festivals.

One of the year’s highlights was the launch of the much-awaited first edition of the Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF), which was founded by the Jakarta Arts Councils Literary Committee and ran from Aug. 20 to 24.

The festival brought together authors from Asia and Africa, including Indian poet and queer activist Akhil Katyal, Thailand's Prabda Yoon, Turkish poet Bejan Matur, South African author and journalist Zainab Priya Dala, and Indonesian authors Zen Hae and Saras Dewi. Renowned Palestinian writer Adania Shibli was the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony.

Themed “Pagar” (Fence), the inaugural JILF sought to break biases in literature by exploring the Southern Hemisphere (especially covering Asia and Africa) identity.

“This is a vital issue because global discourse [on this] has always been imbalanced. In many cases, what we consider to be global literature, for instance, have a Europe-centric bias. [This] does not only concern geographical and political-economic issues, but has also expanded to discussions on marginalized issues and conditions,” writer Eka Kurniawan explained in an email interview in his capacity as a JILF curator.

Another JILF curator, writer and editor Isyana Artharini, said the festival attracted 2,000 to 3,000 visitors each day.

“Many people are skeptical about whether young people actually like to read books. But we have been surrounded by young people who like to buy books and stay abreast with the latest developments in the literary world,” Isyana said, adding that most of JILF's visitors were in their early 20s to mid-30s.

“It is high time that Jakarta strives to place itself as one of the world’s literary hubs. Even [Bangladesh’s capital] Dhaka has its own literary festival,” she stressed.

Prior to the JILF was the ninth edition of The Makassar International Writers Festival (MIWF) on June 26-29 in South Sulawesi, attracting 20,000 participants throughout the four-day event. Themed “People”, the festival program featured discussions on natural disasters and human resilience as well as religion — a recurring theme at many of this year’s literary festivals.

Meanwhile, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) held its 16th edition themed “Karma”, which pondered the consequences of human actions. The festival gathered 180 speakers from 30 countries on Oct. 23-27 to discuss a variety of contemporary issues, from the climate crisis to Islamic radicalism, to gender violence and to the proliferation of fake news, and from racism to linguistic colonialism.

Speakers included American-Iranian writer Reza Aslan, American journalist Terence Ward, Indonesian author Eliza Vitri Handayani, Australian author Clementine Ford and Thai author Pitchaya Sudbanthad. Also in the lineup was Resa Boenard, an Indonesian social entrepreneur and waste expert who established a learning center at the Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java.

Grateful: Retired Balinese teacher Made Taro (center) smiles as he receives the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2019 as the event’s founder and director Janet DeNeefe (left) looks on. (JP/Anggara Mahendra)

UWRF founder and director Janet DeNeefe said that about 25,000 people, both from home and abroad, took part in this year’s festival, and that most of its volunteers were young Indonesians eager to meet the Indonesian authors they admired.

The Borobudur Writers & Cultural Festival (BWCF) 2019, held on Nov. 21-23 in Yogyakarta, also highlighted religion and its connection with Indonesia’s traditions in its more academic discussions.

Themed “God and the Universe: Re-read Pantheism-Tantrayana in Kakawin and the Ancient Manuscripts of the Archipelago”, the BWCF invited audience members to trace the works of the late Dutch pastor, Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder, an expert in Old Javanese, through a lively panel of experts who dissected thematic issues.

BWCF committee chair Seno Joko Suyono said he was surprised on realizing that about around 80 of the 100 people who lived near Borobudur temple were young people, and that they were actually interested in rediscovering their cultural heritage.

Jakarta also saw a smattering of mini-festivals, including the Salihara Literary and Ideas Festival that discussed the common history of Indonesia and the Netherlands, as well as Litbeat and the Gramedia Writers and Readers Forum.

The years newly published titles also seem to carry heavy sociopolitical overtones, such as Srimenanti, the debut novel by poet Joko Pinurbo, and Sitayana, a novel by Cok Sawitri, both published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama (GPU).

Srimenanti refers to the politicized religious divisiveness in the lead-up to the 2019 presidential election, while Sitayana attempts to present a feminist interpretation of the Ramayana epic, according to GPU senior editor Mirna Yulistianti.

The year also saw many works of Indonesian literature translated into several foreign languages.

Anton Kurnia, coordinator of the LitRI translation grant from the National Book Committee and the Education and Culture Ministry, pushed for the Arabic translation of Eka’s Man Tiger. Another notable work is Leila S. Chudoris Laut Bercerita (The Sea Speaks Its Name), which was translated into English by John McGlynn and is to be published by Penguin Random House Southeast Asia (SEA).

Indonesia was also the guest of honor at the London Book Fair on March 12-14, during which it sold the translations rights to 23 titles.

Still in the realm of translations, novelist Eliza Vitri Handayani, who is also the director of InterSastra, said that the Indonesian-English online literary journal endeavored to nurture emerging writers and translators.

InterSastra has released its Unrepressed series, which is published under an open submission policy and comprises poems, personal essays and short stories by established and emerging authors from Indonesia as well as Vietnam and Australia. Translations of the series is edited by Tiffany Tsao, who also helps mentor and coach up-and-coming translators. Eliza is the series editor.

The first: Palestinian writer Adania Shibli delivers a keynote address, titled "I Don't Speak My Language", at the opening of the Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF) in Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center in Central Jakarta in August. (JP/Anggie Angela)

The Unrepressed series touch on “issues considered taboo” — in Eliza’s words — like religious fundamentalism, gender-based violence and the marginalization of minority groups. InterSastra also hosts offline discussions and events that bring these issues front and center.

To attract a wider audience to its literary activities, Eliza has entered InterSastra into collaboration with House of the Unsilenced, which focuses on gender-based violence, and Fashion ForWords on visual arts and fashion events.

“There are some people who come because they like fashion, but in the end they are talking about freedom of expression, toxic masculinity and so on, thus expanding people’s interest in literary works and critical discourse along the way,” she tells The Jakarta Post by phone.

“We were worried about a backlash in the beginning,” she says. “Fortunately so far, our participants have been able to discuss in a peaceful manner, even when they disagree with each other. We also love it when people ask questions out of curiosity instead of ill intention.”

Also highlighting women’s experience, Indonesian author Laksmi Pamuntjak launched the English version of her third novel, Fall Baby, published by Penguin Random House SEA, which intertwines the visual arts world, global history and issues of identity. The Indonesian translation is to be published in 2020 by GPU.

Fall Baby has a connecting thread with Lakshmi’s first novel, The Question of Red (Indonesian title Amba, 2012), through its two female protagonists: Siri, the illegitimate child of Amba and Bisma, and her friend-turned-foe Dara.

“I wanted [the protagonists] to encourage women to dare to create their own stories, women who have freedom over their own bodies and minds” says Laksmi, while referring to the age-old story of how societal bias has always hindered women’s careers, no matter how brilliant they were or could be.

Laksmi delivered the keynote speech at the Australian National University’s Indonesia Council Open Conference on Nov. 20. Titled “Claiming Ownership of Ones Freed Selves:  Freedom, Art and Morality in Indonesia”, she reflected on the prominent themes of Fall Baby while presenting the works of the late Balinese contemporary artist, I Gusti Ayu Kadek “Murni” Murniasih.

Laksmi explained that the painter, who was known for her paintings of male and female genitals, had inspired the development of the two protagonists in Fall Baby.

“[Murnis works] make a case for art that dares to challenge, subvert and also say it the way it is,” she said.

She also expounded on the racism and sexism that befell nonwhite women in the international art world, and on the recent racism and bigotry in Indonesia and how to resist such discrimination.

Following the “chicklit” phenomenon that swept the Indonesian literary scene mid-decade, it appears that Indonesian literature — along with its readers, communities and festivals — has hit a growth spurt, maturing in its themes and outlook to engage with current issues, both for the country and the world. (ste)