Sutardji wins literary award for his dedication to 'words'
Sutardji wins literary award for his dedication to 'words'
JAKARTA (JP): Poet Sutardji Calzoum Bachri is the recipient of
the second Chairil Anwar Literary Award and its prize of Rp 25
million, the head of the Directorate for the Arts' Literary
Committee announced at the weekend.
Slamet Soekirnanto said Sutardji would be awarded the lifetime
achievement award at an official ceremony at Taman Ismail
Marzuki, Central Jakarta, this Friday.
Mochtar Lubis, the only other recipient of the award, was
honored in 1992.
Chairil (1922-1949) is considered among the country's foremost
poets.
"He has given new life, blood and form to the old pantun-style
poetry," Slamet said of Sutardji's use of a poetry form of
Sundanese origin, combining literature, storytelling, music and
singing.
The five-member jury considered Sutardji's collection of poems
O Amuk, Kapak (1966-1979) among his most notable. Jury members
were the director of the Directorate for the Arts, Saini KM; head
of the Jakarta Arts Council, Salim Said; professor of literature
at the University of Indonesia, Riris Toha Sarumpaet; literary
critic and professor of the school of literature at Gadjah Mada
University, Faruk HT, and cultural observer Ignas Kleden.
Among the 18 nominees were Umar Kayam, Rendra, Goenawan
Mohamad, Ahmad Tohari, Putu Wijaya, Danarto, Seno Gumira Ajidarma
and Sapardi Djoko Damono.
Ignas told the media that "after making a shortlist of four,
the jury narrowed it down to two names, Sapardi and Sutardji".
Sutardji was chosen from the two because he dedicated "his
entire life to lyricism, literature and poetry, without indulging
in or having any other side business".
According to Slamet, Sutardji began a new literary phenomenon
by "robbing words of their meaning but at the same time
sustaining the sacred allure... like when one recites a mantra."
Sutardji's works published in anthologies include Parade Puisi
Indonesia (Indonesian Poetry Parade), the 36th and 37th editions
of the Journal of South Asian Literature in 1993 and last year's
two-volume Panen Raya Puisi Indonesia (The Harvesting of
Indonesian Poetry).
Preceding the presentation of the Chairil Anwar Award will be
the award ceremony for the winner of the romance novel-writing
contest. An editor of local cultural journal Jurnal Kebudayaan
Kalam, Ayu Utami of Jakarta, beat 68 other contestants with her
entry Saman to win Rp 7.5 million.
Jury members were Sapardi Djoko Damono, Faruk HT and Ignas
Kleden.
Sapardi agreed with Kleden that Ayu's novel revolving around a
Catholic priest seeking to help an insane village woman against
the backdrop of "a power structure of industrious tycoons" was
"spellbinding".
Second place went to Ruslan Pe Amanriza of Pekanbaru, Riau,
and third was Jakarta journalist Korrie Layun Rampan.
Honorable mention went to Zoya Herawati of Surabaya, East Java
and Taufik Ikram Jamil of Pekanbaru.
The Chairil Anwar Literary Award, the nationwide playwriting
and romance novel-writing contests are part of a Rp 1 billion
program funded by the National Development Planning Board and the
Ministry of Home Affairs to promote traditional theater, music,
literature, film and dance.
The playwriting and romance novel-writing contests, earlier
held annually by the Jakarta Arts Council from 1975 to 1981, were
revived late last November. The Chairil Anwar Literary award
show, after its inception in 1992, was hampered by financial
problems.
Winners of the playwriting contest will be announced this
afternoon. (02)