In Conversation With

Writing as a Political Act

Authors Eka Kurniawan and Dominic Sy sat down for a conversation in the Emmanuel S. Torres Literary Arts Room in the George SK Ty Learning Innovation Wing of Areté last October 4, 2019. Kurniawan discussed being a student during the fall of Suharto, writing scripts for television shows, enjoying “trashy novels,” and having readers discover Indonesian history through his writings.

Eka Kurniawan was born in Tasikmalaya, Indonesia. He is the author of novels, short stories, essays, movie scripts, and graphic novels. He was long-listed for the Man Booker International Prize 2016 for Man Tiger, and his work has been translated into 35 languages.

Dominic Sy's A Natural History of Empire was selected as the winner of Kritika Kultura/Ateneo de Manila University Press First Book Prize and will be released in 2019.

This conversation is part of a series recorded for Areté in collaboration with Kritika Kultura and the Ateneo Department of Fine Arts’s Creative Writing program. These are recorded in the room named in honor of the poet, critic, and literature professor who was also the first and longtime curator of the Ateneo Art Gallery.

We thank the Office of the Dean of the School of Humanities and Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities Asia (PAHA) for their support for the Kurniawan-Sy conversation. A transcript of the conversation will be published in an upcoming issue of PAHA.

In Conversation With

In Conversation With features authors discussing their work, process, and practice. It is produced in collaboration with Kritika Kultura and the Department of Fine Arts’ BFA Creative Writing program, recorded in the Emmanuel Torres Literary Arts Room.