Exile: Conversations With Pramoedya Ananta Toer

“Fascinating... endlessly sad.”—Noam Chomsky

In these remarkable interviews with André Vltchek and Rossie Indira, edited by Nagesh Rao, Indonesia’s most celebrated writer speaks out against tyranny and injustice in a young and troubled nation. Toer here discusses personal and political topics he could never before address in public.

Toer is best known for his novels comprising the Buru Quartet. The New York Times described his autobiography as a “haunting record of a great writer’s attempt to keep his imagination and his humanity alive under terrible conditions.” Toer is widely considered a strong candidate for the Nobel prize in Literature.

André Vltchek is an American filmmaker and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent in Peru, Colombia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Mexico, East Timor and Bosnia. His most recent book is Western Terror : From Potosi to Baghdad (Common Courage Press). Vltchek is also a regular contributor to ZNet. Rossie Indira is the production manager and translator of the documentary Terlena: Breaking of a Nation. Her father was imprisoned with Toer and was one of his closest confidants. Nagesh Rao is Assistant Professor of English at The College of New Jersey, where he teaches Postcolonial Studies. His research on postcolonial literature and theory has appeared in several journals, including Race and Class, South Asian Review and Postcolonial Text.