Agus Sarjono
(Java, 1962) writes poetry, short novels and essays. He studied Indonesian Language and Literature at Bandung and finished his postgraduate program in 2002. Sarjono works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Theatre at Bandung's Art College. He is editor of the literary journal Horison and the Program Director of The Jakarta Arts Council for the periode of 2002-2006. His work has been published in several media, including the literary journals Horison and Dewan Sastera, as well as the newspapers Jawa Pos and Kompas. His poems have also been included in several anthologies. His work consists out of the collections of poems Kenduri airmata (1994) and A Story from the Country of the Wind (English edition 2001), his essays Bahasa dan Bonafiditas Hantu and Sastra dalam Empat Orba (both 2001)and his drama Atas Nama Cinta (2004).Sarjono has performed at Winternachten 1999, and at literary manifestations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Germany.
WN 2005
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Archive available for: Agus Sarjono
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Poetry from Indonesia and Malaysia
Malay and Bahasa Indonesian are closely related languages. In recent years writers and poets from both countries have worked with one another regularly. For instance the Javanese poet Agus Sarjono and his Malayan colleague Eddin Khoo. They will discuss this relationship and read from their work, together with the well known Indonesian Sutarji Calzoum Bachri. In his innovative poems Sutarji 'liberates' the words from their original meaning. Last October he stole the show with his impressive poetry recital during the Winternachten tour in South Africa.
English spoken -
Reformations in Indonesia
The call for reformations in Indonesia became louder and louder. The poets' voices were also heard. The critical poet and theatre-performer Rendra introduced his younger collegue-poets. Soni Farid Mauluna, Nenden Lilis, Agus R. Sardjono and Arahmaiani read from their work, together with Rendra. They discussed their poetry and the reformation process with the Dutch newspaper Indonesia-correspondent Dirk Vlasblom and Henk Maier, professor in Malaysian and Indonesian Language and Literature at Leiden University.
