n a drizzling afternoon, a taxi pulled up in front of a quaint restaurant in Central Jakarta. A medium-built man stepped out, dressed in a gray hoodie and blue jeans, a bulky laptop bag slung over one shoulder. He moved with a steady confidence, his stride wide, his gaze fixed ahead.
Inside, a group of reporters was already waiting. One of the organizers glanced toward the entrance, then announced, “There he is. Our author, Eka Kurniawan.”
That afternoon on March 10, publisher Gramedia Pustaka Utama hosted an intimate iftar gathering at Tjikini Lima, bringing together the writer and a small circle of journalists. After the session, Eka reflected on his childhood, literary career and upcoming projects.
Imagination taking roots
Eka writes playful yet unsettling novels and short stories, often drawing on Indonesia’s social and political history. He tells them through unexpected voices, from a ghost in Cantik Itu Luka (Beauty is a Wound), released in 2002, to a monkey in O, which was published in 2016.
“The ideas come from everywhere,” he said. “From books, stories from friends, historical records, even folklore.”
Born in a remote village among the mountains in Tasikmalaya, West Java, he grew up listening to radio plays that fed his imagination with stories from the Mahabharata and local folklore.
