I want my reader to be really immersing in the world that I have created for them, and to really feel what my characters are feeling. I want them to say, when they read my works, ‘This is me.’
Tell us a little about your background – what did you study and what path led you to what you are doing today?
I fell in love with fiction since I was little. It started with children books like Enid Blyton and Goosebumps series (those are hand-me-down books given to me by my cousins when they grew up and didn’t need them anymore), and it was clear to me since very early in life that I wanted to write stories. Then in the university I decided to take Russian Language and Literature as my major. Right now I am embarking on a master’s degree on comparative literature in Queen Mary University of London in England. But the reason why I could become an author is when I worked in Komunitas Salihara after graduating from college, the authors who founded the organisation spotted my literary works and immediately supported me. Nirwan Dewanto, then the head of the curatorial board in Komunitas Salihara as well as the editor of the literary section of a leading newspaper, was the one who made all this possible, who opened the door for me to begin my career in literature.
Where do you derive inspiration from?
To me inspiration can be found anywhere, but as any author would tell me, the only way to write is to read, a lot. Other novels by other authors are usually my source of inspirations. Weirdly enough, I even enjoy going to bookstores just to grab books and read the blurbs as well as admiring the covers. Sometimes even just by looking at pretty book covers can lead to inspirations.
What have been one or two favourite recent projects?
After finishing my novel in Australia, I am now moving on to several projects. My favorite one is maybe the true crime that I hope to be researching once I arrive back in Jakarta. The second is a novelisation of a chapter of the Holy Quran. It will be Ramadan right when I am back home, and I plan to reread the Quran in a way I have never done before.
Describe your process. Do you work from life, references or a combination of both?
My writing process involves many things. Some writers write about themselves, which I do, too, but I write about myself while writing about others too. In that sense, I work from life and references. I like to blur the line between fiction and real life.
What do you want the reader to experience when they are engaging with your work?
My works are more about the moods rather than plots. I want my reader to be really immersing in the world that I have created for them, and to really feel what my characters are feeling. I want them to say, when they read my works, ‘This is me.’