Denny JA Re-elected Unopposed as SATUPENA Chairman for 2026–2031
The SATUPENA Congress, held online on Thursday, 13 August 2026, re-elected Denny JA as Chairman for the 2026–2031 period by acclamation through the Formateur Council.
In his acceptance speech, Denny announced that one of the main agendas for the next period is to establish a SATUPENA endowment fund to support research, creative work, publishing, and writers’ awards.
The congress was attended by around 251 writers from Sumatra, Java, Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua, some online and some through proxy letters.
“Indonesia must have a writers’ community capable of enduring for more than a hundred years,” said Denny JA during the congress.
According to Denny, a long-lived organisation is not merely a matter of historical pride. It creates institutional memory, intergenerational networks, intellectual traditions, and the capacity to assist writers sustainably.
For this reason, one of his great aspirations for the next period is to establish a SATUPENA endowment fund to support research, creative work, publishing, and writers’ awards.
“An endowment fund will make it easier for writers to conduct research and create. Important works must not fail to emerge simply because the writer lacks sufficient funds,” he said.
Denny said that the inspiration regarding organisational longevity came from the world’s writers’ associations. The Society of Authors in Britain, for example, has been established since 1884.
The Authors Guild in the United States has been established since 1912. PEN International, which later developed into a cross-border network of writers, was born in London in 1921.
“They demonstrate that a writers’ organisation can surpass a century when the benefits for members, regeneration, funding, identity, and governance are successfully built into a tradition,” he said.
According to Denny, the challenge for an organisation that has passed its initial phase is to transform the strength of personal leadership into an institutional system that can be passed on.
For this reason, SATUPENA’s hundred-year vision is not merely an ambition about age. It represents a transformation from an organisation dependent on a figure to an organisation rooted in institutions.
Satrio Arismunandar, Secretary General of SATUPENA for 2021–2026, stated that support for Denny emerged because of his track record of building something new in various fields.
According to Satrio, Denny is known for having a “Midas touch” — the ability to transform the fields he enters through innovation, courage in taking risks, extensive networks, and a results orientation.