Suddenly the Night

"This is a poetry book from a prominent Indonesian poet. Sapardi’s poems were very influential in my early introduction to literature. They taught me a lot about perusing nature as a source of metaphors. Yes, his is a household name in Indonesia—he’s known as the ‘Robert Frost of Indonesia.’ (Frost is also one of Sapardi’s favourites.) I think one of the special qualities of Sapardi was how his work managed to resonate with younger readers. He’s been writing poems since 1960s, but his poems are still quoted by the millennials up to this date. Sapardi is also still very productive, even at his age. He just released another book with Gramedia. He’s also quite active in social media. ‘Aku Ingin.’ It captures love so accurately and beautifully."