INDONESIA FOCUS: Q+A Nirwan Dewanto

You started writing early in your high school days, what were you writing about most back then?I think it is exaggerating to say I started writing at high school. I was already writing, but it was mainly journaling, which was not for public consumption. There was a poem (about a tree in the midst of rain, if I remember correctly) which I wrote when I was in high school and sent much later to the Horison (which is the most important magazine for Indonesian literati) and it was published. I actually started writing - in the sense of having my writing published - when I was at university in the 1980's. I wrote poetry and essays. Those poems were surrealist, on the themes of a dream landscape, a journey to the moon, playing chess, and of childhood. In essays, I tried to understand the problems of art and culture in modern Indonesia; the relationship between literature and politics or the relationship between art and science. Indonesia is the Market Focus at The London Book Fair. What are your hopes The London Book Fair can help achieve for Indonesian writers?For the past four to five years I have been actively participating in a series of important international book fairs, including Frankfurt Book Fair & London Book Fair. The internationalisation of the book world and the translation of Indonesian literature into foreign languages is important to increase the standard of publishing. Indonesian literature is not known in the sea of world literature: it needs better... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-03-15 11:15:36 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "INDONESIA FOCUS: Q+A Nirwan Dewanto"


The Most Anticipated Debuts of the Second Half of 2020

There’s no doubt COVID-19 has forever changed the world as we know it. A small slice of life that had to shift trajectory is the publishing industry. Debut authors are especially struggling as the books they have worked on for countless years are released into a world without in-person book... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-06-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Faber acquires Lanchester's 'unsettling' short story collection

Faber is to publish a collection of short stories by John Lanchester this autumn.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-18 08:59:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


FBF confirmed to be unaffected by Germany's mass events ban

The Frankfurt Book Fair is still scheduled for October, despite a government extension of the ban on mass events in Germany to the end of that month, the prime minister for the German state of Hesse has confirmed. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-17 22:45:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this


B2B Publishers Call to End Data Misuse in Online Ad Auctions

A group of B2B publishers and ad tech firms are banding together to curtail the harvesting of publisher-specific data from online ad auctions by third-parties, a practice they argue is an unauthorized breach which places their relationships with their audiences at risk. Referred to as data... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-06-17 21:29:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Can #BlackoutBestsellerList be the reckoning the publishing industry needs?

The social media campaign could force publishers to focus on black writers by encouraging readers to buy their booksCould the New York Times’ Best Seller book list ever be filled entirely by black authors?As industries undergo reckonings around race, in the wake of international demonstrations... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-17 10:00:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Five Italian Short Story Collections You Should Read

Short stories by contemporary Italian writers are hard to come across and almost none of them make it across the Atlantic. Booksellers and publishers seem to stay away from them because—what’s new?—they sell less, as they apparently lack “the immersive factor.” However, readers in the twentieth... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-16 08:48:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bookshops need to be representative too

I want to acknowledge that my experience as a South Asian is not the same as those of Black people in this country. Although it’s important to note that we may have some shared experiences, the current BLM protests are about Black Lives, and it’s crucial to know the difference.  However, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-15 19:31:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Publishers want more black authors. Why have they silenced us for so long? | Candice Carty-Williams

As Black Lives Matter protests take place across the world, the publishing world is rushing to support those ‘ignored by the mainstream’. Who is the mainstream, then?The publishing industry is stilted and archaic. I worked in it for seven years, and left due to reasons I can’t legally talk... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-11 09:44:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Changing the story with Hashtag BLAK and The Diverse Book Awards

I am a Black author and publisher in an industry that is dominated by white people. Black Lives Matter is not a hashtag. It is a movement that will carry on until we have seen real change. It is being said time and time again but there is still not enough representation in the publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-11 01:22:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Dorothy Koomson: 'publishing is a hostile environment for Black authors'

Author Dorothy Koomson has written an open letter to the publishing industry, in which she describes it as a “hostile environment for Black authors”.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-10 06:37:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What It's Like to Be a Frontline Bookseller During a Pandemic

Frontline booksellers are the first people customers see when they set foot in bookstores across America, and are among the most vulnerable workers in the publishing industry. This is what their world looks like now. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Parakeet Brings out the Delightfully Weird, Unexpectedly Wise Side of Marie-Helene Bertino, by Taylor Hickney

Cultural Cross Sections Taylor Hickney In this profile, one of Marie-Helene Bertino’s students at the New School provides a personal glimpse of the author, whose new novel, Parakeet, was published June 2. On the evening of the National Book Awards,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-04 19:40:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Coronavirus Response: Spain’s Publishing Industry Mobilizes Bookstore Support

Asking consumers to remember what booksellers mean to them, Spain's publishing industry associations roll out a campaign to reopen book retailers. The post Coronavirus Response: Spain’s Publishing Industry Mobilizes Bookstore Support appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-06-04 13:07:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In Mexico, One Bookstore per 120,000 Inhabitants, by Elena Poniatowska

Pandemic Dispatches Elena Poniatowska In this column that originally appeared in La Jornada, Elena Poniatowska considers the role of editors and talks with Diego Rabasa, founder of publisher Sexto Piso. Already precarious, the pandemic lockdown has made... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In Mexico, One Bookstore per 120,000 Inhabitants, by Elena Poniatowska

Cultural Cross Sections Elena Poniatowska In this column that originally appeared in La Jornada, Elena Poniatowska considers the role of editors and talks with Diego Rabasa, founder of publisher Sexto Piso. Already precarious, the pandemic lockdown has... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hachette joins Frankfurt Book Fair exodus

Hachette UK will not be exhibiting at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, the firm has announced. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-03 03:50:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Man of the Crowd’

‘The Man of the Crowd’ is one of the shorter short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe (who pioneered the short story form when it was still an emerging force in nineteenth-century magazines and periodicals). Written in 1840, the story is deliciously enigmatic and, in some ways, prefigures later... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2020-06-02 14:00:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bursting the South Asian literary bubble

Today sees the launch of South Asian LitFest, a free, live online festival I've created to show celebrate and showcase authors both from the subcontinent and the diasporic South Asian writing community around the world. Why do we need it? Well, even as the publishing industry talks about... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-27 22:25:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this


NPD’s Kristen McLean on the US Industry: Weathering the Pandemic

Having dropped up to 2.5 million units in its worst 'acute COVID period' week, Kristin McLean says the US publishing industry needs to assess, predict, and harden weak spots for challenges ahead. The post NPD’s Kristen McLean on the US Industry: Weathering the Pandemic appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-05-27 12:33:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Crisis Below the Surface: How the Pandemic Weighs on Women in Publishing

Recently, a colleague experienced an irksome response from a coworker when she could not meet with him at short notice. She felt frustrated that he seemed to show little compassion or understanding when she’s currently balancing a full-time job and homeschooling two young children. She’s not... Continue reading at Publishing Executive

[ Publishing Executive | 2020-05-27 12:00:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this