ASEAN Literary Festival taking the road 'beyond imagination'

Entering its 4th edition, which will be held from Aug. 3 to Aug. 6 at the preserved part of Kota Tua (Old Town) in West Jakarta, the festival will comprise four sub-themes presented in a series of discussions.

In the theme “Our Crazy World,” speakers will talk about radicalism and populism, the controversy surrounding Indonesia’s blasphemy law, the persecution of citizens and how to respond to the “hoax society.”

Discussions on “Living with Technology” will touch on the issue of how technology and social media affect literary works.

In “Breaking Down the Wall”, writers are encouraged to dedicate their works to society, according to author and festival co-founder Okky Madasari.

From the start, she the ASEAN Literary Festival positions itself as a forum to respond to issues in our communities.

“We would like to see more literary works contribute to defending people’s interest, enlightening the readers and helping to stop repression and tyranny,” she said in an interview with The Jakarta Post.

“It is our recurring theme, as last year we also touched on issues of human rights, the 1965 Tragedy and LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender], although the discussions were cut short due to opposition from some hard-line groups.”

As the festival will be held in conjunction with ASEAN’s 50th anniversary on Aug. 14, the final theme “ASEAN Beyond Imagination” will include speakers like the Culture and Education Ministry’s director-general of culture, Hilmar Farid, talking about strengthening ties among communities through literary works.

Malaysian author Faisal Tehrani, whose five novels and a play are currently banned by the Malaysian government, is set to deliver a brief lecture on opening night at Kota Tua’s Fatahillah Square, discussing the overall situation of freedom of expression in Southeast Asia.

Prominent Indonesia figures taking part in the event include author and essayist Goenawan Mohamad, astronomer Karlina Supelli and journalist/author Arswendo Atmowiloto, who was once jailed on blasphemy charges.

Australian investigative journalist Andrew Fowler will share his experience working on his reports about Wikileaks and Julian Assange, which were published as separate books. Additionally, journalist and writer Michael Vatikiotis is scheduled to speak about his recent book Blood and Silk, which details his coverage of religious conflicts in the region.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Azhar Ibrahim will share his expertise on the sociology of religion, and the sociology of literature and critical literacy, while also comparing Malaysian and Indonesian literary works.

In addition to writing workshops and book exhibitions, the festival will also stage pre-events with the National Literature Jamboree for youths and a residency program for selected writers, the latter of which will start on July 27.

“The Writer’s Residency program is getting so well-known that this year, we received nearly 1,000 applicants,” Okky said.

From them, only 12 were accepted — 11 from ASEAN countries and one writer from Japan — and will during their stay be hosted by residents of Kampung Muara in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta.

With the residency program, writers are offered the chance to interact and embed themselves in the subject of their work, with the aims to make literature more accessible.

The four-day festival will also host a culinary bazaar, and art and cultural performances by Filipino spoken word artist and educator Kooky Tuason, Bruneian performing artist Low Kok Wai and Jakarta-based girl group JKT 48.

After including JKT 48 in its schedule, in a hope to attract youths to come and enjoy literary works, the organizer receives positive responses from millennials.