Nirwan is a founder of the Kalam Journal of Culture, serving as Senior Editor since 1994. He has worked with Teater Utan Kayu and the Lontar Gallery since 1996. Though one of Indonesia’s most influential critics, he began his career as a geologist at the Bandung Institute of Technology. His interest in literature in the arts emerged during his school years when he led the Literature Appreciation Group at ITB from 1983-1985. He worked in the field of oil and gas exploration until 1991 when he left geology for the arts.
His work as a critic includes writing on literature, visual arts, and occasionally film. He has also published his fiction in the journals Kalam and Prosa.  Nirwan has served as the.  Since 2002, Nirwan has also served as the editor of the Arts page in Koran Tempo Sunday Edition and as a member of the Lontar Foundation Editorial Board.
Among his research abroad, he received a Fulbright grant as a researcher/guest writer at the University of Wisconsin, Madison 1998-1999. His book of essays “Senjakala Kebudayaan” was published in 1996.