Best property to get Khatulistiwa this year

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In September, prose authors will not be the only literati to have their heartbeats quickened; this year, the fifth Khatulistiwa Literary Awards will also toast the nation's best poetry.

More than 120 novels and more than 25 works of poetry that hit the Indonesian market in 2004 and 2005 are now under consideration by seven hard-nosed literary buffs, whose identity is being kept secret by the Khatulistiwa committee.

"After a month of deliberation, each of the seven must shortlist 10 titles of prose and another 10 of poetry," Riris K. Toha-Sarumpaet, a literature professor from the University of Indonesia, who is acting as jury coordinator for this year's awards, said.

The lists will be submitted to consultant company Ernst&Young, which is among the sponsors.

"They will come up with a tabulation of the top 10 titles from the lists. The top 10 prose and poetry titles will be handed over for consideration to 15 jurors, who will be different to the seven people in the first stage," Riris continued.

Afterwards, each of the 15 jurors will shortlist five titles of prose and five of poetry. These lists will be forwarded for third-stage consideration by another group of 21 jurors, who will submit five titles each for prose and poetry.

This rather complex procedure will end with a detailed tabulation showing the best five works of prose and poetry. Fortunately, that will be carried out not by literary buffs but by professional number-crunchers: Ernst&Young.

This elaborate procedure was designed by the Khatulistiwa committee to ensure unbiased judgment.

The committee will keep the jurors' identities secret, not only from public but also from each other.

"Hopefully, it will avoid meetings between jurors that could skew their opinions," Riris said.

Richard Oh, the owner of QBWorld bookshops and the founder of the Khatulistiwa awards, said that he did not want to have to deal with a problematic judging procedure.

"For example, once during the Booker Prize judging process, jurors found themselves in the middle of a shouting match after a closed-door meeting because they could not resolve differences between themselves," Richard said.

The winner(s) -- last year, Linda Christanty and Seno Gumira Ajidarma shared the award -- for 2004/2005 best fiction and best poetry will be announced some time in September, Richard added.

The Khatulistiwa awards began in 2001, selecting from works published in 2000 and 2001. The brainchild of Richard Oh, the awards have been supported by several companies, with Mont Blanc, Ernst&Young and Plaza Senayan having the longest association.

The purpose of the awards, the organizers said, was to encourage more Indonesians to read as well as to raise the image of Indonesian literature.

Previous award winners:
2000/2001 Goenawan Muhammad for Sajak-sajak Lengkap (Complete Poems)
2001/2002 Remy Silado for Kerudung Merah Kirmizi (Kirmizi Red Veil)
2002/2003 Hamsad Rangkuti for Bibir Dalam Pot (Lips in the Pot)
2003/2004 Linda Christanty for Kuda Terbang Maria Pinto (Maria
Pinto's Flying Horse) and Seno Gumira Ajidarma for Daun-daun
Kering (Dry Leaves)