On Tuesday, 30 August 2005, Indonesia's leading publisher, Equinox Publishing, will launch the much-awaited novel Saman by Ayu Utami in English. Saman spearheaded Indonesia's "chick-lit" phenomenon ("sastra wangi") when it was originally released in 1998 and since then sold more than 100,000 copies in the Indonesian language.
(PRWEB) August 23, 2005 -- On Tuesday, 30 August 2005, Indonesia's leading publisher, Equinox Publishing, will launch the much-awaited novel Saman by Ayu Utami in English. Saman spearheaded Indonesia's "chick-lit" phenomenon ("sastra wangi") when it was originally released in 1998 and since then sold more than 100,000 copies in the Indonesian language.
Saman is a story filtered through the lives of its feisty female protagonists and the enigmatic "hero" Saman. It is at once an exposé of the oppression of plantation workers in South Sumatra, a lyrical quest to understand the place of religion and spirituality in contemporary lives, a playful exploration of female sexuality and a story about love in all its guises, while touching on all of Indonesias taboos: extramarital sex, political repression and the relationship between Christians and Muslims.
Saman has taken the Indonesian literary world by storm and is now available in English with a translation by the University of Tasmania's Pamela Allen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ayu Utami was born in Bogor, grew up in Jakarta and obtained her bachelor degree in Literature Studies from University of Indonesia. She worked as a journalist for Matra, Forum Keadilan, and D&R. Not long after the New Order regime closed Tempo, Editor, and Detik, she participated in the founding of Indonesias Alliance of Independent Journalists to protest the closure of those three weeklys. Currently she is working for the cultural journal Kalam, and at Teater Utan Kayu. Saman was awarded the Prince Claus Prize in the year 2000.
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