The Book of Jakarta

A young woman takes a driverless taxi through the streets of Jakarta, only to discover that the destination she is hurtling towards is now entirely submerged... A group of elderly women visit a famous amusement park for one last ride, but things don’t go quite according to plan... The day before her wedding, a bride risks everything to meet her former lover at their favourite seafood restaurant on the other side of the tracks... Despite being the world’s fourth-largest nation—made up of over 17,000 islands— very little of Indonesian history and contemporary politics are known to outsiders. From feudal states and sultanates to a Cold War killing field and a now struggling, flawed democracy, the country’s political history, as well as its literature, defies easy explanation. Like Indonesia itself, the capital city Jakarta is a multiplicity; irreducible, unpredictable, and full of surprises. Traversing the different neighbourhoods and districts, the stories gathered here attempt to capture the essence of contemporary Jakarta and its writing, as well as the ever-changing landscape of the fastest-sinking city in the world.

Hanna Fransisca was born in Singkawang, West Kalimantan. Now living in Jakarta, she is active in various socio-cultural activities that present the richness of Chinese-Indonesian culture. She has written several collections of short stories and poetry. Her first short story, My Blood Spills in the Temple, was chosen as one of the selected short stories for the 2008 Jakarta International Literary Festival. She has also been named Outstanding Writer by Tempo magazine in 2010 for her collection Konde Penyair Han / The Han Poet’s Coil. Teddy W. Kusuma is one of the co-founders of POST, an independent bookshop and publisher located in Pasar Santa, South Jakarta. Sabda Armandio Alif is a novelist, short story writer, and translator. His first novel, Kamu: Cerita yang Tidak Perlu Dipercaya / Kamu: A Story Not To Believe In was published in 2015 and was selected as novel of the year by Rolling Stone magazine. His second novel, 24 Jam Bersama Gaspar: Sebuah Cerita Detektif / 24 Hours with Gaspar: A Detective Story was published in 2017 and a top 5 of the Jakarta Arts Council’s Novel Writing Competition in the same year. In 2019, he published a short story collection Kisah-Kisah Suri Teladan / The Exemplary Tales and a novella titled Dekat dan Nyaring / Lo Ziggy Zesyazeoviennazabrizkie was born in Bandar Lampung in 1993. She won the Jakarta Arts Council’s Novel Writing Competition in 2013 and 2016, was long-listed for Khatulistiwa Literary Award 2015, received the 2017 Editor’s Choice Award from Rolling Stone in Indonesia, and selected to receive an award from the Ministry of Education and Culture’s National Agency for Language Development and Books for her novels. In 2019, she went to a writer’s residency program in the U.K. with Metal Culture and the British Council, then once again through a grant from the National Book Committee. Cyntha Hariadi wrote the award winning poetry collection Ibu Mendulang Anak Berlari / Mother Feeds, Child Flees, a book of short stories called Manifesto Flora / Flora’s Manifesto, and a novel titled Kokokan Mencari Arumbawangi / Kokokan Seeks Arumbawangi, to be published in 2020). The translation of her work has also appeared in Asymptote and AAWW (Asian American Writers Workshop). Born in Tangerang, Banten, she lived in and out of Jakarta for decades, spending her high school years in the city, returning to work as a journalist and copywriter for almost 10 years, and coming back with her hus Yusi Avianto Pareanom is a writer, editor, translator, independent publisher, and former journalist. His work of fiction include three short stories collections ---Rumah Kopi Singa Tertawa / The Laughing Lion’s Coffee House (2011), Grave Sin #14 (2015, a trilingual edition in Bahasa Indonesia, English, and German), and Muslihat Musang Emas / The Golden Fox’s Trickery (2017)--- as well as Raden Mandasia si Pencuri Daging Sapi / Raden Mandasia the Cow Thief (2016), a novel that won the Khatulistiwa Literary Award, named as the Selected Prose of the Year by Tempo Magazine, and was selected as Fic Ben Sohib was born in 1967 in Jember, East Java. He was a journalist and a vocalist in a progressive rock band in late 1980s - early 1990s, but is now well known as a novelist and short story writer. Known for his dark humor as well as the focus on the Betawi-Arab community in Jakarta, his novels have been adapted into a film that won multiple awards at the 2010 Indonesian Film Festival. His short story collection, Haji Syiah and Other Stories, was published by Lontar Foundation in 2015 in a trilingual (Bahasa Indonesia - English - German) edition. He is currently an editor for Ufuk Press. Dewi Kharisma Michellia was a reporter and news editor for BPPM Balairung university press (2010-2013), in-house editor for PolGov research and publishing institute (2013-2015), literature editor for Jakartabeat (2013-2015), and co-founded OAK Publishing House. She is also one of the founders of Ruang Perempuan dan Tulisan (Women Writers Space and Writings), a collective dedicated to reading and promoting works by women writers from Indonesia. She is currently reviews editor at Jurnal Ruang, an independent news outlet covering books, music, and film.