Lontar Foundation opening new avenues for literature

Lontar Foundation opening new avenues for literature

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

The Lontar Foundation, which has built a reputation for
promoting Indonesian literature and culture, has established the
Lontar Literary Awards to mark its 15th anniversary early next
year.

The foundation will also present the 2001 Lontar Life
Achievement Award to author Nh Dini for 40 years of dedication to
Indonesian literature, and the 2001 Lontar International Award to
Prof. A. Teeuw of the Netherlands, who has done much to promote
the translation and dissemination of Indonesian literature
abroad.

A jury consisting of John McLynn, Melani Budianta, Riris Toha
Sarumpaet, Nirwan Dewanto and Sapardi Djoko Damono has selected
two titles from l87 titles published between 1999 and 2001 to be
awarded the Lontar Literary Award.

They are Celana (Pants), a collection of poems by Joko Pinurbo
published by Indonesia Tera of Magelang, and Kemilau Cahaya dan
Perempuan Buta (The Dazzle of Light and the Blind Woman), a
collection of short stories by Gus tf Sakai published by Gramedia
Pustaka Utama in Jakarta.

The selection was based on literary merit and the books'
relevance for translation into English. Each of the Lontar
Literary Award winners will receive Rp 5 million in cash.

It seems that the panel of jurors gave priority to works
focusing on the essential values of human existence. Subtle yet
tangible; evocative instead of provocative, as well as delicate
aesthetics, those are the characteristics that stand out in the
selected books.

They mostly deal with the marginalized in society, the humble
folk, while their themes refer to the violence that shatters the
hopes of a decent life, these folks' hidden sufferings and dire
humor, but above all their inner truth.

Taking a tone of rare aesthetics, the stories and the poems
lead one to the darkest corners of one's conscience, evoking
soul-searching questions that would otherwise have remained
pushed down to the depths of ignorance.

Are we living to the fullest or are we slumbering through
life, letting the most essential of our existence pass by in
ignorance?

In the case of the collection of poems, Melani Budianta says
Celana is an asset to Indonesian literature.

"I imagine how it will spur people's fascination, not only
because of a free pass to imagination, but above all because it
stirs the soul," she says.

Ranjang (Bed), says Melani, which is the title of 12 out of
the 42 poems, is in fact the place where the poet lets his
imageries meander, from the profane to the sacred, from birth
unto death. And, quite in keeping with the nature of the poems,
Melani adds, it's here too that we dream, and it's here where
reality is more absurd than the dream.

For Riris K. Toha Sarumpaet, Celana is a collection of
reflective thoughts on social realities, themes that survive the
passing of time. Life and death and the massive desolation in
between are dealt with in a language that testifies to narrative
skill, awareness of sound and a sense for the figurative as well
as the paradoxical, she says.

As for the short stories in the collection by Gus tf Sakai,
who is from Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, they are set in a world
that borders on the edge of dreaming and the fringe of reality.

Weighted on the somber side, they question deteriorating
values of humanity. Yet, instead of pointing a finger in protest,
they tend to subtly shake the emotions to a wake-up call of
wonder and reflection.

Each of the 18 stories in the collection has been published
before in such media as Kompas, Media Indonesia, Republika,
The Jakarta Post and Gatra.

The Lontar Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded
in 1987 by Goenawan Mohamad, Sapardi Djoko Damono, Umar Kayam,
Subagio Sastrowardoyo and John H. McGlynn to promote Indonesian
literature and culture.

Lontar publishes English translations of Indonesian
literature, makes documentary films on influential Indonesian
writers and on the oral traditions of the archipelago. The
foundation also sponsors the arts, as well as educational
projects.

The foundation's office is at Jl. Laut Tawar No. 53,
Pejompongan, Jakarta, 10210.