Eka Kurniawan’s new work, a novella, The Dog Meows, The Cat Barks (original title: Anjing Mengeong, Kucing Menggonggong) was originally published in Indonesia by Gramedia in July 2024 and will be published in English by New Directions in the US in March 2026 and by Pushkin Press in the UK in May 2026. The book will also be published in English in India by Speaking Tiger and in South East Asia by Monsoon Books, who have just revealed their cover design:
The book is garnering buzzy pre-pub press before the American publication in March. It was selected as a Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2026 and trade reviews are already coming in:
"Kurniawan flips effortlessly from first to third person, creating a fun and textured style, which blends a clear-eyed perspective with moments of visceral emotion. This brims with humor and heart." Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A pensive portrait of rural anomie. ... A memorable look into a delinquent mind, one with little hope for any future other than hell." Kirkus Reviews
Translation rights have also been sold to Unionsverlag (German), Sabine Wespieser (French), Yumeka (Polish), and Domingo (Turkish). All other translation and audiovisual rights are available.
In The Dog Meows, The Cat Barks, Sato Reang enjoys an idyllic childhood of soccer, cricket fighting, and mischief in his Indonesian village—until the day he must be circumcised, and his observant father forces him into a life of Islamic piety. For years, Sato outwardly obeys his father, but all the while the boy chafes at the strictures of his religious routine, longing for everyday pleasures and vowing to himself that he will “become a child who was not pious.” His freewheeling linked anecdotes—mixing worldliness and naïveté, cruelty and innocence—are narrated with a toggling between first and third person (“I”/“he” or “Sato Reang”) that potently conveys his disassociation. His adolescent, hormone-fueled crotchetiness expresses dissent: I stopped going to mosque. I no longer joined in worship. I never said my prayers before bed. Sato Reang eats with his left hand–so stupid–and barges in where he pleases, without calling out a greeting. If I was feeling lazy, I’d just piss on a banana tree, and I wouldn’t wash myself off after. But amid various mysterious portents and even within the hilarity, Sato’s callow sangfroid (with its undercurrents of pain and shame)—and his comic pranks— soon invite tragedy.
Fans of Kurniawan will recognize his signature spiky, funny, and shockingly frank style in this odd and unique work. We can’t wait for it to be published around the world after its great success in Indonesia!
For more information about the above work, please contact Anna Soler-Pont (anna@pontas-agency.com).