| Pramoedya Ananta Toer was born in central Java in 1925, the son of a schoolteacher. He grew up during the last years of Dutch colonial rule, often living on the edge of hunger. He learned how to type and became a stenographer and later a journalist. In 1947 he was imprisoned by the Dutch. After independence in 1949, when he was freed, his reputation both as a writer and a columnist steadily grew. In 1969 he was arrested for being a Communist Party sympathizer and was sent to the penal island of Buru. During the ten years he was imprisoned there, he composed the four novels that make up his most famous work, The Buru Quartet. Released from prison in 1979, he remained under virtual house arrest. All his works were banned in his home country, but he gained fame overseas, and has been nominated many times for the Nobel Prize. Pramoedya likes to call himself an ‘avantgarde’ writer. As he puts it, “it is avantgarde literature that offers evaluation, re-evaluation, renovation, and naturally the courage to bear the risk alone”. “One of our greatest living writers.” --The Guardian Other titles by Pramoedya Ananta Toer available for translation: The Fugitive. Published by: W. Morrow, Avon, Penguin (USA, UK), De Geus (Netherlands), Mekong (Japan), China Times (Taiwan-China), Insierme (Italy), Plaza & Janés (Spain), Rowohlt (Germany), Pax Forlag (Norway), Simavi Yayinlari (Turkey), Plon, Presses de la Cité (France). It's not an all night fair. Published by: Equinox (in English for Southeast Asia), De Geus (Netherlands), Gallimard (France), Horlemann (Germany). The Mute's Soliloquy (Autobiography). Published by: W. Morrow (USA), Txalaparta (Spain), De Geus (Netherlands). Guerilla family Midah with the gold teeth Tales from Jakarta (collection of short stories) The King, the Witch and the Priest. Published by: Equinox (in English for Southeast Asia). Stories from Blora (a collection of Pramoedya's early short stories). To be published in English soon by Hyperion (USA). |
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