SUTARDJI CALZOUM BACHRI

SUTARDJI CALZOUM BACHRI was born in
Rengat, Riau, Indonesia on June 24, 1941. He
studied at Padjadjaran University, Bandung. His
poems appeared in literary magazines such as
Horison and Budaya Jaya, as well as in the literary
pages of national daily newspapers such as Sinar
Harapan and Berita Buana. Later he joined the
editorial board of Horison; and was appointed
senior editor in 1996. Between 2000 and 2002 he
was the poetry editor of Bentara, a monthly
cultural supplement of the newspaper Kompas. In
1973 Sutardji stunned the Indonesian literary
public with his Poetic Credo in which he sets out
to ‘free words from the burden of meaning’
through his mantra poems, in which each word
takes on particular weight as an aural and visual
phenomenon. He uses ‘autonomous words as
material for fresh mantras and new meanings.
Poetry unleashes the force of language, to
present the experience of life as dynamic as
possible.’
Placed among the leading figures of modern
Indonesian literature, he attended the Poetry
International Festival in Rotterdam in the summer
of 1974. In the same year, he spent 6 months as
a participant in the International Writing
Programme in Iowa City, USA. With fellow
Indonesian poets K.H. Mustofa Bisri and Taufiq
Ismail, Sutardji took part in the International Poets
Meeting in Baghdad, Iraq. In 1997, he was invited
to read his poetry at the International Poetry
Festival in Medellin, Colombia. His short story
collection, entitled Sutardji received an SEA Writer
Award from the King of Thailand in 1979 and an
Arts Award from the Indonesian government
in 1993. He is also the recipient of the 1998 Chairil
Anwar Literary Prize, and in 2001 he was
awarded the title Sastrawan Perdana (Prime Man
of Letters) by the regional government of Riau.


Solitude
the most roselike
the most thornlike
the most birdlike
the most earthlike
the most knifelike
the most eyelike
the most armlike
the most high
God













Select Bibliography :

O, 1973
Arjuna in Meditation, 1976
Amuk (Amok), 1977
Sutardji, 1979
Kapak (Axe), 1979
O Amuk Kapak,1981
Hujan Menulis Ayam (Rain Writing Chicken), 2001