born in Jakarta, 11 July 1967. She has published the anthology of poetry Monolog Pohon (Tree Monologue, 1997) and the novel Train Bumi (Earth’s Dance, 2000). Thanks to her novel, Oka received an award from the Language Centre of the National Education Department in 2003. Her novella “Sagra” won the best serial story awarded by Femina magazine in 1998, and was compiled into the short story anthology Sagra (2001) along with a number of other short stories, such as “Putu Menolong Tuhan” (Putu Helps God) which was selected as the best short story by Femina in 1994 and “Pemahat Abad” (Carver of Centuries) which was awarded best short story for 1990-2000 by the Horison literary journal. In 2002 she received the SIH Award from Jurnal Puisi (Poetry Journal). She has participated in the ASEAN writing program (1997); Winternachten Literary Festival in Den Haag and Amsterdam, Holland, and has been a guest writer at Hamburg University, Germany (2003).

Es Wibowo (Purwodadi, 1958) began writing essays, cultural reports, short stories and poetry in the early 80s. This Civil Engineering graduate of Universitas Tidar Magelang was the winner of the 10 best poems in the National Poetry Writing competition organized by Studio Seni Sastra Kota Batu, 1996. In the same year, he also won the Purbacaraka Ward in Denpasar. He has sat as the coordinator of the literature dialogue forum of Kedu, Cagar Seni Menoreh. He now is active in various arts activities as well as leading the Padepokan Jalatundha in Magelang.

Avi Basuki was a model when she first started her writing career. At the suggestion of senior writer Seno Gumira, she wrote her first Travel Piece for Jakarta Jakarta – a magazine now defunct. However, her love for writing remains and she actively writes from Milan. Her first book, TANGO, was launched along with two short films on the same subject. She is now working on her next book, still on the theme of dance. Besides being a travel-fashion-design journalist for several Indonesian publications, she also works as a digital artist for Televisionet – a Web TV in Milan and appeared in several feature films such as Malena, Vajont, Extreem Ops, etc. She continues to explore her love for yoga, travel and dance, for Tango is the drug of her life.

Intan Paramaditha was born in Bandung, November 15, 1979. She graduated from the University of Indonesia and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study literature in the University of California, San Diego. Her anthology of short stories, Sihir Perempuan (Black Magic Woman), was nominated for the national Khatulistiwa Literary Awards in 2005. In addition to fiction, she writes articles on literature, cinema, gender & sexuality, which have been published in national and international journals.

Dewi Lestari Simangunsong (Dee) was born in Bandung, 20 January 1976. Dee completed her studies in the International Relations Program of Parahyangan University. She first became known as a singer with the RSD vocal group. Considered in the rank of women writers after her first part of the trilogy novels “First Supernova”: Ksatria, Puteri dan Bintang Jatuh (2001), then continued to the next series: “Akar” (2002) dan “Petir” (2004).

(Jakarta, 1942) completed his studies in Yogyakarta. Educated in Christian schools while living among high-caste Javanese family, he became interested in theology, philosophy and psychology. As a poet, he uses traditional javanese metaphors in his work. His published anthologies are Isteri (Wife) and Anak (Child). He teaches at the Social Studies and Political Studies faculties of Universitas Diponegoro in Semarang, where he currently resides with his family.

Rama Thaharani (Yogyakarta, 26 August) completed her studies in Psychology at the University of Indonesia. She is currently teaching at the Psychology Faculty of Atma Jaya University. Her career in the performing arts began with her role as manager of the National Youth Orchestra of Indonesia, after which she has held various producer and PR roles for classical music performances. She is currently handling the production of performances by the Jakarta Chamber Orchestra and Batavia Madrigal Singers, as well as managing Asiaccatura, a vocal ensemble with members from Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. In the near future, she will produce The Story of Babar, a collaboration between piano recital, story reading and graphic arts based on the works of the 20th Century French composer, Francis Poulenc.

Komunitas Utan Kayu is once again hosting the Utan Kayu International Literary Biennale for the duration 23 - 30 August 2007. Held in Jakarta and Magelang, the literary biennale will take place at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) and Teater Utan Kayu (TUK) while in the nation’s capital, prior to moving on to Central Java to host events in Magelang at Galeri Langgeng and the grounds of Candi Borobudur.

This year’s festival elects the theme Force Majeure as a reflection upon the many natural disasters that have continued to wreak havoc in various regions of Indonesia, as well as a show of solidarity with the victims. Words perhaps have no power before gigantic forces of nature; however a ritual to remember and honour the tenacity of the human heart and mind in rebuilding a culture is surely – and hopefully – not wholly futile. That is why the theme Force Majeure is selected and this festival is being held.

Readings and performances of literature, be it poetry or prose, remain the main attraction at this festival, hand-in-hand with thought provoking dialog between visiting international writers with Indonesian writers, as well as among the festival speakers with students on campus and the people in a number of communities. An introduction and immersion into the richness of Indonesian heritage for the festival speakers will also take the form of visits to historical sites.

More upbeat than the previous three festivals, this year’s fourth Literary Biennale will be unforgettable for the presence of dozens of leading Indonesian writers as well as literary figures from about twenty countries. Among the Indonesian writers are Abdul Hadi W.M., Abidah El Khalieqy, Acep Zamzam Noor, Agus Noor, Amarzan Ismail Hamid, Avi Basuki, Ayu Utami, Beni Setia, Darmanto Jatman, Dewi Lestari, Dorothea Rosa Herliany, Es Wibowo, F. Rahardi, Gus tf, Hamsad Rangkuti, Iman Budhi Santosa, Intan Paramaditha, Joko Pinurbo, Joni Ariadinata, Laksmi Pamuntjak, Oka Rusmini, Triyanto Triwikromo, Ugoran Prasad, and Violetta Simatupang.

While visiting from other countries (currently confirmed) are: Ahmed Alaidy (Egypt), Alvin Pang (Singapore), Chris Keulemans (Netherland), Cyril Wong (Singapore), Ed Verhoeff (Netherland), Edmundo Paz Soldán (Bolivia/USA), Feryal Ali-Gauhar (Pakistan), Ghassan Zaqtan (Palestine), Hassan Daoud (Lebanon), Izaline Calister (Curaçao), Jerome Kugan (Malaysia), Lan Po-chou (Taiwan), Mong-Lan (Vietnam / USA),  Ozen Yula (Turkey), Pernell Saturnino (Curaçao), Romain Moretone (Australia), Sam Wagan Watson (Australia), Umberto Piersanti (Italy).

The list of Indonesian and International participants will continue to grow as we receive confirmation from illustrious writers invited.
 

has been a writer and performer of spoken word, poetry and short stories for almost ten years. His written work has been widely published both locally and overseas. His spoken word performances have been broadcast on radio RRR and JJJ, Australia’s National Youth Radio Station.
In 2003 he traveled to New York courtesy of an Australia Council grant to perform at the launch of Short Fuse, a global collection of Fusion Poetry. His first collection of poetry was published in 2003 by Hit & Miss publications titled Love is the First Hate.

graduated from Tourism Schools in Switzerland and USA. She began her career as a Public Relations Manager in a hotel in Bali, as well as facilitator in various inhouse training programs. She writes poetry and short stories in Indonesian and English which has been published in a number of newspapers and cultural journals. Anak-Anak Vampir (2003) is her first collection of poetry.

(North Sumatra, 1941) has been writing poetry since 1956, broadcasted in various newspapers and magazines in Medan and Jakarta. He also writes short stories, novellas, scripts, essays and critiques. He works as a journalist. In the 1968-1979 period he was exiled to Nusa Kambangan and Buru Island by the Soeharto regime. His collection of poetry Memilih Jalan (Choosing Paths, 1965) did not see the light of day because it was destroyed by the military authority of the time.

(Kota Kinabalu, 1975) is a writer, poet and musician based in Kuala Lumpur. As a multidisciplinary artist, Jerome projects a devil-may-care persona prone to attacking the apathy and mediocrity of others. Jerome obtained a scholarship to study at the University of Canberra, Australia, where he discovered sexual freedom and performance poetry. He currently works as managing editor for KLue magazine.