Sugiarti Siswati

Sugiarti (later Sugiarti Siswati) (died May 1987) was an Indonesian writer from Klaten who came of age during the Indonesian Revolution. In 1947 she was a prizewinner in a competition organized by the IPPHOS (see Alex Mendur) for short stories about the war of independence. According to Harian Rakjat, she was a graduate of the Ali Archam Academy (closed 1964). Adding her husband's name to her own, Sugiarti Siswati became an influential member of the PKI-sponsored Lekra, which published her short story collection Sorga Di Bumi (1960), and by 1962 was co-editor of Api Kartini ("Flame of Kartini"), a journal of the Indonesian Women's Movement.[1]

She was arrested following 1965's 30 September putsch and survived the ensuing massacres but disappeared from public life. In 1986 she showed several unfinished stories dealing with this period to Hersri Setiawan [id].[2] Recent interest in her work has centered on her contributions to feminism.[3]

  1. ^ Obituary accompanying the story "Home number nine" in Inside Indonesia No. 15 (July 1988) (p. 24)
  2. ^ "Memories of Sugianti", also in Inside Indonesia No.15 (July, 1988)
  3. ^ E. T. Kim: "Kim Hyesoon's Animal Obsessions", The New Yorker, July 14, 2023; Ilma Safitri: "Penyair misterius, pendukung satra anak" in SukuSatra.com, Feb. 2022; David Setiani:The Portrayal of Women in the Works of Sugiarti Siswadi as the Manifestation of Lekra and Gerwani Ideology (diss. Universitas Padjadjaran, 45363 Jatinangor, Indonesia 2023)