Visit on Lontar Foundation on May 20, 2016
The first batch of UDE students (Year 2014) visited Lontar Foundation, a non-profit organization under the wing of Komunitas Utan Kayu as a part of the Introduction to Creative Writing course.
On this day, the first batch of UDE students (Year 2014) visited Lontar Foundation, a non-profit organization under the wing of Komunitas Utan Kayu, accompanied by their lecturers, as a part of the Introduction to Creative Writing course.
Established in 1987, Lontar's primary aim is to promote Indonesian literature and culture through the translation of Indonesian literary works. Its goal is to stimulate the further development of Indonesian literature; make Indonesian literature accessible to an international audience, and preserve Indonesia's literary record for future generations. Lontar is responsible for translating the greatest number of Indonesian works into English for the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015.
Lontar is thus not simply a translating establishment; it tries to expand Anglophone transculturalism – the ‘trending’ issue as well as the most debated one in literary world – in multicultural Indonesia, as it promotes not only Indonesian canons, but also new Literature in a globalized world, something that English Literature students should be aware of.
During this visit, the students were given the chance to explore the Lontar Library, containing the gems of Indonesian literature already translated into English, and to discuss with John McGlynn, the chairman of the foundation, who has translated or edited over 100 works, including translations of several of works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer. The lecture and question-answer session is closed with lunch together.
