Andrea Hirata
Andrea Hirata
Andrea Hirata is an Indonesian author best known for the 2005 novel Laskar Pelangiand its sequels...
NationalityIndonesian
ProfessionAuthor
CountryIndonesia
attention beaches beauty close countries italy observed realized terrain turkey
I've backpacked to countries like Italy and Turkey and observed beautiful scenery, but then I realized that beauty was always very close to me. It is here in Belitung Island, where the rivers, beaches and the terrain captivate my attention most.
chinese descent hard people realize tolerate whether
It's hard to be a minority. People look at you a different way, like you don't belong, and I don't think many people realize just how difficult it is to live as a minority. Where I come from, we learn to tolerate one another. Whether one is of Chinese descent or Malay descent, what matters is we're part of the same country, the same world.
cook eating fast fellowship food grew iowa received recently simple traveling
I'm a simple hillbilly. I don't like eating modern, industrialized, fast food. I grew up eating home-cooked food. So when I'm traveling abroad, like when I recently received a six-month writing fellowship to Iowa in the U.S., I like to cook my own food.
literary work
I think what matters most in literary work is the context, not the text.
maintain
The treasure of a writer is to maintain their own style.
perhaps receiving turns
It turns out that popularity is scary. I don't feel comfortable receiving so much attention from people; perhaps that's because I'm just a kampong boy.
art creating days lose power rhythm stop
As a writer, I can't really take days off. Writing is like creating an art. Once you stop writing, you can lose your rhythm and context, meaning that your writing may lose its power.
against age alone bare bold filing issues lawsuits lives memoirs next respected sensitive writers
I think writers of memoirs need to be respected for the bold decision they take to bare their lives open. That alone should be enough. The things I write about, if you notice, are sensitive issues for a lot of people. If I told you my age, they would get ideas. The next thing you know they'll be filing lawsuits against me.
study work
I am a working person. I always work, study or do research for my novel. I even work on Sunday.
policy remaining time writer
I am a writer who has a policy to allocate 90 percent of my time for research and the remaining 10 percent to write.
benefits truly
I want to write books that can truly become a legacy and bring benefits to people.
compared exposure far terms writers
Indonesian writers are so far behind in terms of global exposure compared with the Philippines and Japanese writers.
compose epic express happening ordinary sentences trying
One of the challenges is creating characters. I am trying to compose my sentences to express epic events happening to ordinary people.
stars coffee airplane
Happiness is actually found in simple things, such as taking my nephew around the island by bicycle or seeing the stars at night. We go to coffee shops or see airplanes land at the airport.