Violetta Simatupang

(Indonesia) has a Dutch mother and an Indonesian father. After she was educated in Indonesia, she graduated from Tourism Schools in Switzerland and the USA. She began her career as a Public Relations Manager in a hotel in Bali, as well as facilitator in various inhouse training programmes. She now studies Business Administration in Bandung (Indonesia). She writes poetry and short stories in Indonesian and English, published in a number of newspapers and cultural journals. Anak-Anak Vampir (2003) is her first collection of poetry. The English translation will be published shortly. She describes her work as follows: "I think that I have unconsciously written many idyls, odes, lyrical poetry and satire. Everything can be a subject for my work: the toothbrush in the bathroom or the death of my grandmother, my early memories of 'dancing on a graveyard', or how I detest houserules. I have written about 25 poems about female roles and characteristics in the cultural and tourism industry."
(WN2008)Archive available for: Violetta Simatupang
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Indonesia now: new and innovative poetry
Poets Violetta Simatupang and Tan Lioe Ie read from their work, the latter punctuating his lines with supple, ritual jumps. They talk to Tsead Bruinja about the role of engagement in modern Indonesian literature and about the question whether in Indonesia the same dangers and fears are experienced as in the West. During this programme the anthology The Nights of the Lampoons by Tan Lioe Ie will be presented, translated into Dutch by Linde Voûte. In English
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Prophesies of the new generation of poets
Come and see: Seven young poets from allover the world enter the stage as modern prophets. They will conclude this Winternight prophesying with a poem assigned by the festival. What kind of future awaits us? Tamiem al-Barghuti (Palestine), Lamis Saidi (Algeria), Violetta Simatupang (Indonesia), Saskia de Jong (Netherlands), Ester Naomi Perquin (Netherlands) and Gabeba Baderoon (South Africa) read and Osama Abdulrasol and Henk de Laat will improvise on the poems on ud and bass. The poets will also read from existing work. Yra van Dijk leads the (English) programme.