Indonesia is slated to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair in
2015; but they will do more than attend as they are the guest of honor.
Officials from Indonesia are preparing to show the rest of the world their wide
range of literature and culture. The Indonesian Deputy Education and Culture
Minister, Weindu Nuryanti, is looking forward to the Frankfurt Book Fair and hopes
to be able to promote Indonesia at the event. She is hopeful that through their
participation they will be able to move forward with creating their own
translation center in Indonesia.
Promoting Indonesian
Literature
Weindu Nuryanti is looking forward to promoting Indonesian
literature as well as the country's authors. She feels that the Frankfurt Book Fair
creates the “perfect international stage.” Nuryanti said that their officials
are planning on displaying 2,000 books at the Indonesian booth with 150 of those
titles being translated into either German or English. The Indonesian
translation team is working to get all 150 of the title translated by next
year. The government has already assigned $1 million US dollars to fund the
project.
Literary Works on
Display
The managing editor at Gramedia, Wandi S. Brata has already
said that his company will be displaying 100 titles of Indonesian literature.
In the past, the publisher has focused on buying rights of international
titles; but this year they will be trying to sell the rights of some of their
local titles to the international market. They are focusing primarily on
Germany at this time. They have already translated 61 of their titles and have
about 40 more to complete.
Indonesian Author
Achieves International Success
Laksmi Pamuntjak is an example of an Indonesian author who
has already achieved international success. Her novel, Amba was translated into
English and bears the title The Question
of Red. The novel’s German rights have already been sold to Ullstein
Verlag. Laksmi hopes that the German distribution will help open up even more
doors to the international market. She is looking to Indonesia’s participation in
the Frankfort Book Fair to help “curate the nation’s literature” so that the
Indonesia’s cultural voice will be represented. She has great pride in what the
Indonesian authors have already achieved.
