Dewi Anggraeni’s discussion about the integration of Chinese descent people into Indonesian society, based on interviews with eight Chinese Indonesian women, Breaking the Stereotype, is now available as an ebook.
At present, the ebook is only available from Amazon and, as it is loaded with other distributors, we will let you know.
The selling price is $(US)4.99, direct to your cloud or your Kindle device.
Dewi Anggraeni’s third non-fiction book, Breaking the Sterotype: Chinese Indonesian women tell their stories, is published by Indra Publishing, and will be launched in Melbourne on 10 November 2010.
The Indonesian version of the book, Mereka Bilang Aku Cina: Jalan mendaki menjadi bagian Bangsa, is published by Bentang Pustaka, Yogyakarta, and was launched in Jakarta on 20 October 2010.
In his foreword to the English version, Associate Professor (Emeritus) Dr Charles A. Coppel, the University of Melbourne, states that:
Breaking the Stereotype … marks [Dewi’s] first venture into biography, but we already know from the sub-title (‘Chinese Indonesian women tell their stories’) that this is another form of storytelling.
These are the stories of Chinese Indonesian women … [who] remained in Indonesia through the longue durée of the Suharto New Order with its discrimination against ethnic Chinese, suppression of public expression of Chineseness, and outbreaks of anti-Chinese violence.
Underlying and feeding into these phenomena were negative stereotypes of the ethnic Chinese. … In telling the stories of these Chinese Indonesian women, Dewi shows us something of the variety of their experience. In so doing, she is deliberately seeking to break the negative stereotype of the ethnic Chinese and to allow us to see these individuals in the context of their Chinese ethnicity and in their full humanity.
ISBN 9781920787196
Non-fiction
pb 210 x 138 mm
240 pp
Illustrations, Bibliography & Index
$(Au)34.95
On October 12, 2002, Bali seemed to crumble overnight, when hundreds of tourists and locals who were enjoying themselves became victims of two horrific bomb blasts. The bombs took the lives of 202 people – 88 of whom were Australians, and severely injured many more.
The Bali bombing brought Australians closer to the terror which had dominated world headlines for over a year. Dewi Anggraeni’s book – Who Did This To Our Bali? – presents a comprehensive summary of the event, the investigation and the main perpetrators.
Dewi’s work as an Indonesian journalist in Australia puts her in a unique position to observe and understand how the tragedy of the Bali bombing has played out in Australia, Bali and elsewhere in Indonesia.
Indonesians and foreign observers alike have been pondering whether “Indonesian Islam” remains as moderate, liberal and tolerant as many had believed. Part of this book is about Dewi’s own journey through this pondering.
Includes: Map of Eastern Indonesia;
Plan of Kuta, showing Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar;
4 colour plates of Kuta and the main perpetrators of the bombing
February 2004 200pp
Paperback, 210 x 138 mm
Non-Fiction category: war & revolution
1st Edition ISBN: 1 92078708 9
RRP $aud24-95
ISBN (13): 9781920787089
The Author
As a published writer of novels, short stories and essays, and an established role as a regional journalist, Dewi Anggraeni is well-known in both Australia and Indonesia, especially among those in both countries who maintain an interest in regional affairs.
Her major works have been published by Indra Publishing:
Who Did This To Our Bali?, 2003
Snake, 2003
Neighbourhood Tales: A Bilingual Collection, 2001
Journeys Through Shadows, 1998
Stories of Indian Pacific, 1992
Parallel Forces, 1988
The Root of all Evil, 1987
Dewi’s poetry, short stories and essays appear in anthologies from a range of publishers:
“Journey to My Cultural Home” in Weaving a Double Cloth; Stories of Asia Pacific Women in Australia (Ed. Myra Jean Bourke, Susanne Holzknecht and Annie Bartlett, Pandanus Books, 2002)
“Exposing Crimes Against Women” in The Last Days of President Suharto (Ed. Edward Aspinall, Herb Feith and Gerry van Klinken, Monash Asia Institute, 1999)
“Rejected by Ibu Pertiwi” in Motherlode (Ed. Stephanie Holt and Maryanne Lynch, Sybylla Feminist Press, 1997)
“From Indonesia to Australia and Back: Cultural Sensitivities” in Crossing Cultures: Essays on Literature & Culture of the Asia-Pacific (Ed.Bruce Bennett, Jeff Doyle, Satendra Nandan, Skoob Books, 1996)
“Illegal” in Our Heritage (Ed. Satyagraha Hoerip, Pustaka Binaman Pressindo, 1993)
“Irritations” in Striking Chords (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Kateryna O Longley, Allen & Unwin, 1992)
“Mal Tombé” in Beyond the Echo (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Jan Mahyuddin UQP, 1988)
“A Foreigner in East Gippsland” in Up From Below (Women’s Redress Press Inc., 1987)
The news of her sick father beckons Komala to return to Jakarta, leaving her husband and children behind in Melbourne, now her home city.
But the Jakarta she left nine years earlier has changed. The city has changed and the society is disturbingly foreign to her. Or has she changed? Komala’s is a poignant homecoming to a troubled land.
Komala’s return even to her family home is difficult, with live-in boarders and her hostile sister in law disturbing her smooth transition back to the place of her childhood.
Through one of her mother’s boaders, Komala learns of a vicious attack on a nightclub hostess, an acid attack which leaves the young woman blinded and horribly scarred. In her attempt to win some justice and compensation for the victim, Komala becomes aware of a wider world of corruption and exploitation, particularly of women.
This exploitation is made worse by the lack of solidarity among the women in Jakarta. The society is still one where man are supreme, and the women acquiese in this, allowing themselves to be dependent on a husband or lover, thereby allowing men to retain control.
The Root of All Evil is a novel as relevant today as when first released. The path for women’s liberation in many South East Asian countries still hinges very much on how women themselves view the woman who dares to declare her independence in the male-dominated society.
May 1987, 140pp
Paperback, 215 x 138 mm
ISBN 0 9587718 0 4
Fiction, 1st edition
RRP $aud 16.95
ISBN-13 978
The Author
As a published writer of novels, short stories and essays, and an established role as a regional journalist, Dewi Anggraeni is well-known in both Australia and Indonesia, especially among those in both countries who maintain an interest in regional affairs.
Her major works have been published by Indra Publishing:
Who Did This To Our Bali?, 2003
Snake, 2003
Neighbourhood Tales: A Bilingual Collection, 200
1Journeys Through Shadows, 1998
Stories of Indian Pacific, 1992
Parallel Forces, 1988
The Root of all Evil, 1987
Dewi’s poetry, short stories and essays appear in anthologies from a range of publishers:
“Journey to My Cultural Home” in Weaving a Double Cloth; Stories of Asia Pacific Women in Australia (Ed. Myra Jean Bourke, Susanne Holzknecht and Annie Bartlett, Pandanus Books, 2002)
“Exposing Crimes Against Women” in The Last Days of President Suharto (Ed. Edward Aspinall, Herb Feith and Gerry van Klinken, Monash Asia Institute, 1999)
“Rejected by Ibu Pertiwi” in Motherlode (Ed. Stephanie Holt and Maryanne Lynch, Sybylla Feminist Press, 1997)
“From Indonesia to Australia and Back: Cultural Sensitivities” in Crossing Cultures: Essays on Literature & Culture of the Asia-Pacific (Ed.Bruce Bennett, Jeff Doyle, Satendra Nandan, Skoob Books, 1996)
“Illegal” in Our Heritage (Ed. Satyagraha Hoerip, Pustaka Binaman Pressindo, 1993)
“Irritations” in Striking Chords (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Kateryna O Longley, Allen & Unwin, 1992)
“Mal Tombé” in Beyond the Echo (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Jan Mahyuddin UQP, 1988)
“A Foreigner in East Gippsland” in Up From Below (Women’s Redress Press Inc., 1987)
Stories of Indian Pacific are three novellas, set in New Caledonia, Australia and Indonesia, written in Dewi Anggraeni’s engaging style that moves easily from one location to the next.
To Drown a Cat explores racial tension in New Caledonia; Uncertain Step is the story of an Indonesian bride in Australia; and in Crossroads two artists, an Australian and an Indonesian, meet in Bali.
To Drown a Cat is set in 1988, shortly after the violent confrontation between the French army and Kanak separists in the northern island of Ouvea. The story explores the tensions that explode in bloody confrontation, within a family divided by allegience to two sets of ancestors, the French Caldoche and the indigenous Kanak.
Uncertain Step tells the story of Aryani, and her relatively late marriage to Steve, an Australian teacher who already has two children, and is still good friends with his previous wife. Aryani finds the Australian scenery, Steve’s hometown, Adelaide and people’s response to herself very different from everything she is used to in Bandung. Her uncertain step into marriage with this warm but almost unknown Australian is the story of so many Asian brides and their Australian husbands.
In Crossroads, the young Australian rock singer, Justin is introduced to a new world of art and life, when he meets the Balinese poet and playwright, Nyoman. Justin sees for the first time, art as close to nature and art as important for political and social change.
Oct 1992, 265pp
Paperback, 215 x 138 mm
ISBN 0 9587718 3 9
RRP $aud 18.95
Fiction 1st edition
ISBN-13 978
The AuthorAs a published writer of novels, short stories and essays, and an established role as a regional journalist, Dewi Anggraeni is well-known in both Australia and Indonesia, especially among those in both countries who maintain an interest in regional affairs.
Her major works have been published by Indra Publishing:Who Did This To Our Bali?, 2003
Snake, 2003
Neighbourhood Tales: A Bilingual Collection, 2001
Journeys Through Shadows, 1998
Stories of Indian Pacific, 1992
Parallel Forces, 1988
The Root of all Evil, 1987
Dewi’s poetry, short stories and essays appear in anthologies from a range of publishers:
“Journey to My Cultural Home” in Weaving a Double Cloth; Stories of Asia Pacific Women in Australia (Ed. Myra Jean Bourke, Susanne Holzknecht and Annie Bartlett, Pandanus Books, 2002)
“Exposing Crimes Against Women” in The Last Days of President Suharto (Ed. Edward Aspinall, Herb Feith and Gerry van Klinken, Monash Asia Institute, 1999)
“Rejected by Ibu Pertiwi” in Motherlode (Ed. Stephanie Holt and Maryanne Lynch, Sybylla Feminist Press, 1997)
“From Indonesia to Australia and Back: Cultural Sensitivities” in Crossing Cultures: Essays on Literature & Culture of the Asia-Pacific (Ed.Bruce Bennett, Jeff Doyle, Satendra Nandan, Skoob Books, 1996)
“Illegal” in Our Heritage (Ed. Satyagraha Hoerip, Pustaka Binaman Pressindo, 1993)
“Irritations” in Striking Chords (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Kateryna O Longley, Allen & Unwin, 1992)
“Mal Tombé” in Beyond the Echo (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Jan Mahyuddin UQP, 1988)”A Foreigner in East Gippsland” in Up From Below (Women’s Redress Press Inc., 1987)
Set in Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia, Snake is the first novel that Dewi Anggraeni has written about the Chinese descent communities in Southeast Asia. Their stories, woven into the tapestry of the mainstream Malay societies of Malaysia and Indonesia, have not only contributed to the respective society and national culture. They have also moulded the Southeast Asian overseas Chinese into a fascinating society in their own right.
In common with Dewi’s earlier novels, Snake presents us with an intangible, even mysterious, part of Southeast Asian life. While effective curses, and the power inanimate objects can have over people – power for good or power for evil – are generally considered in Australia to be fantasy, they are very much a part of life in Southeast Asia. In Snake, a brooch worn as a clasp for the traditional blouse, the kebaya, has power over its owner.
Featuring Serena, a choreographer and lead dancer, Snake is the story of a family split by honour and pride, a family under the curse of a beautiful brooch. The brooch, named peniti ronce by its first owner, initially fascinates, and then destroys, its owner.
Serena becomes the new owner of the brooch, at a difficult time in her relationship with her partner, Kurt. At the same time, she is strangely drawn to Nancy, whom she meets by chance in Malacca. When Kurt returns to Australia after his daughter sprains her ankle, Serena and Nancy discover they are of the same family, but from different sides of the dispute. Nancy’s mother is shocked to learn that Serena has the brooch, and warns her to get rid of it before it destroys her.
Snake is the story of Serena’s increasing enchantment with the brooch and her family’s efforts to convince her to voluntarily part with it to save herself from its curse. The thrilling climax is totally unpredictable.
Dewi’s images of the crowded streets, the shops and homes of Malacca and the family gathering at home for a funeral in Jakarta, bring the reader into a closer relationship with the Chinese communities in Malaysia and Indonesia than is possible in an all too brief holiday tour.
March 2003, 240pp
Fiction, 1st Edition
Paperback, 216 x 138 mm
ISBN 0 9578735 7 3
RRP $aud 22-95
ISBN-13 9780957873575
The Author
As a published writer of novels, short stories and essays, and an established role as a regional journalist, Dewi Anggraeni is well-known in both Australia and Indonesia, especially among those in both countries who maintain an interest in regional affairs.
Her major works have been published by Indra Publishing:
Who Did This To Our Bali?, 2003
Snake, 2003
Neighbourhood Tales: A Bilingual Collection, 2001
Journeys Through Shadows, 1998
Stories of Indian Pacific, 1992
Parallel Forces, 1988
The Root of all Evil, 1987
Dewi’s poetry, short stories and essays appear in anthologies from a range of publishers:
“Journey to My Cultural Home” in Weaving a Double Cloth; Stories of Asia Pacific Women in Australia (Ed. Myra Jean Bourke, Susanne Holzknecht and Annie Bartlett, Pandanus Books, 2002)
“Exposing Crimes Against Women” in The Last Days of President Suharto (Ed. Edward Aspinall, Herb Feith and Gerry van Klinken, Monash Asia Institute, 1999)
“Rejected by Ibu Pertiwi” in Motherlode (Ed. Stephanie Holt and Maryanne Lynch, Sybylla Feminist Press, 1997)
“From Indonesia to Australia and Back: Cultural Sensitivities” in Crossing Cultures: Essays on Literature & Culture of the Asia-Pacific (Ed.Bruce Bennett, Jeff Doyle, Satendra Nandan, Skoob Books, 1996)
“Illegal” in Our Heritage (Ed. Satyagraha Hoerip, Pustaka Binaman Pressindo, 1993)
“Irritations” in Striking Chords (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Kateryna O Longley, Allen & Unwin, 1992)
“Mal Tombé” in Beyond the Echo (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Jan Mahyuddin UQP, 1988)
“A Foreigner in East Gippsland” in Up From Below (Women’s Redress Press Inc., 1987)
Parallel Forces is the story of a unique family, centred on Amyrra, one of twin sisters. Amyrra’s story is set mainly in modern Australia but also in ancient Java. Her life parallels the life of a queen, Ken Dedes, in the Golden Age of a Javanese kingdom. Amyrra seeks refuge in a personal God to free herself from her fate to love and suffer again, as she believes she had so many centuries earlier.
The story opens with the adult sisters attending a wedding in suburban Camberwell, then quickly flashes back to childhood in Singapore. They were born in Singapore, where their Javanese father, Hardoyo, a poet and their French mother, Claudine, an artist, lived for ten years.
Moving to Indonesia when the girls were just teen-age, the family is shocked when a village seer tells Amyrra that she is the present incarnation of the twelfth century Javanese queen, Ken Dedes, and that she will meet the present incarnation of the queen’s lover, Ken Arok, and they will resume their love affair.
During the Golden Age of the Majapahit kingdom, Ken Dedes married her lover, Ken Arok, after he had killed her husband, the king. Their relationship ended unhappily and their descendants have fought and killed each other for generations after. Despite her obsession to avoid meeting her fated lover, Amyrra finally meets Sean Devlin, who she feels she has known for a long time. From then on, her life parallels the life of Ken Dedes, as she is swept toward the horrifying end.
Nov 1988, 197pp
Paperback, 215 x 138 mm
ISBN 0 9587718 1 2
RRP $aud 16.95
ISBN-13 978
The Author
As a published writer of novels, short stories and essays, and an established role as a regional journalist, Dewi Anggraeni is well-known in both Australia and Indonesia, especially among those in both countries who maintain an interest in regional affairs.
Her major works have been published by Indra Publishing:
Who Did This To Our Bali?, 2003
Snake, 2003
Neighbourhood Tales: A Bilingual Collection, 2001
Journeys Through Shadows, 1998
Stories of Indian Pacific, 1992
Parallel Forces, 1988
The Root of all Evil, 1987
Dewi’s poetry, short stories and essays appear in anthologies from a range of publishers:
“Journey to My Cultural Home” in Weaving a Double Cloth; Stories of Asia Pacific Women in Australia (Ed. Myra Jean Bourke, Susanne Holzknecht and Annie Bartlett, Pandanus Books, 2002)
“Exposing Crimes Against Women” in The Last Days of President Suharto (Ed. Edward Aspinall, Herb Feith and Gerry van Klinken, Monash Asia Institute, 1999)
“Rejected by Ibu Pertiwi” in Motherlode (Ed. Stephanie Holt and Maryanne Lynch, Sybylla Feminist Press, 1997)
“From Indonesia to Australia and Back: Cultural Sensitivities” in Crossing Cultures: Essays on Literature & Culture of the Asia-Pacific (Ed.Bruce Bennett, Jeff Doyle, Satendra Nandan, Skoob Books, 1996)”Illegal” in Our Heritage (Ed. Satyagraha Hoerip, Pustaka Binaman Pressindo, 1993)
“Irritations” in Striking Chords (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Kateryna O Longley, Allen & Unwin, 1992)
“Mal Tombé” in Beyond the Echo (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Jan Mahyuddin UQP, 1988)
“A Foreigner in East Gippsland” in Up From Below (Women’s Redress Press Inc., 1987)
While Indonesia and Australia form the focus and location of Dewi Anggraeni’s works, this collection of short stories, Neighbourhood Tales, explores themes shared by people in every country, every culture. Stories of love, stories of mystery and stories of the family can be found throughout the world, and this bilingual book captures the local flavour for both Australian and Indonesian readers.
Neighbourhood Tales vary widely from the passionate, sensuous world of the composer in “Music for Libretto”, through the dark haunting flashbacks to the shared past of Australia and Indonesia in “The Hut”; from the unexpected humour of marital instability in “Family Law”, to the touching discovery of a child’s special gift in “Synesthesia”.
Dewi paints word pictures which carry her readers inside the relationships between her characters, between her characters and their surrounds, between her neighbouring home countries – Australia and Indonesia.
This book presents a new approach in bilingual books – the stories have not been translated from the language in which they were first written. The twelve stories have all been written twice, once in English, once in Indonesian. In re-writing her stories in the second language, Dewi has allowed for the differences in writing conventions and social mores between Australia and Indonesia.
What is acceptable in Australian writing is not always accepted in Indonesia. What is plausible in Indonesian writing can sometimes seem far-fetched or fanciful in Australia. This makes the collection eminently suited to students and others interested in learning about the culture of Indonesia, not just the language.
July 2001, 248pp
Paperback, 216 x 138 mm
Fiction, 1st Edition
ISBN 0 9585805 7 X
RRP $aud 21.95
ISBN-13 978 0958580571
The Author
As a published writer of novels, short stories and essays, and an established role as a regional journalist, Dewi Anggraeni is well-known in both Australia and Indonesia, especially among those in both countries who maintain an interest in regional affairs.
Her major works have been published by Indra Publishing:
Who Did This To Our Bali?, 2003
Snake, 2003
Neighbourhood Tales: A Bilingual Collection, 2001
Journeys Through Shadows, 1998
Stories of Indian Pacific, 1992
Parallel Forces, 1988
The Root of all Evil, 1987
Dewi’s poetry, short stories and essays appear in anthologies from a range of publishers:
“Journey to My Cultural Home” in Weaving a Double Cloth; Stories of Asia Pacific Women in Australia (Ed. Myra Jean Bourke, Susanne Holzknecht and Annie Bartlett, Pandanus Books, 2002)
“Exposing Crimes Against Women” in The Last Days of President Suharto (Ed. Edward Aspinall, Herb Feith and Gerry van Klinken, Monash Asia Institute, 1999)
“Rejected by Ibu Pertiwi” in Motherlode (Ed. Stephanie Holt and Maryanne Lynch, Sybylla Feminist Press, 1997)
“From Indonesia to Australia and Back: Cultural Sensitivities” in Crossing Cultures: Essays on Literature & Culture of the Asia-Pacific (Ed.Bruce Bennett, Jeff Doyle, Satendra Nandan, Skoob Books, 1996)
“Illegal” in Our Heritage (Ed. Satyagraha Hoerip, Pustaka Binaman Pressindo, 1993)
“Irritations” in Striking Chords (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Kateryna O Longley, Allen & Unwin, 1992)
“Mal Tombé” in Beyond the Echo (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Jan Mahyuddin UQP, 1988)
“A Foreigner in East Gippsland” in Up From Below (Women’s Redress Press Inc., 1987)
When Maryati leaves her village in Central Java to live in Melbourne with her Australian husband Trevor, she suffers the intense pain of separation from her baby son. She soon realises that Trevor would never be able to accept that his innocent Maryati already had a son from an earlier casual liaison.
In Melbourne, Eni, also from Indonesia, becomes Maryati’s personal support system. Eni is so successful, so sophisticated, fitting comfortably into the professional community surrounding her lover, Alex and his brother, Simon. Their friendship matures as their circumstances change. Maryati experiences personal breakdown as her marriage collapses under the weight of Trevor’s intransigence. Reunion with her son is the start of her recovery, a full recovery in which she becomes the sophisticated, successful woman of her village. The roles are reversed in the women’s friendship as Eni’s relationship with Alex leads to her becoming victim to an act of sorcery. It is only through Maryati that she is rescued from the satanic garden into which she has been cast.
Journeys Through Shadows carries all the emotional and cultural interplay that has become Dewi Anggraeni’s trademark.
Oct 1998, 223pp
Paperback, 215 x 138 mm
ISBN 0 9585805 0 2
Fiction 1st Edition
RRP $aud 20.95
ISBN-13 978
The Author
As a published writer of novels, short stories and essays, and an established role as a regional journalist, Dewi Anggraeni is well-known in both Australia and Indonesia, especially among those in both countries who maintain an interest in regional affairs.
Her major works have been published by Indra Publishing:
Who Did This To Our Bali?, 2003
Snake, 2003
Neighbourhood Tales: A Bilingual Collection, 2001
Journeys Through Shadows, 1998
Stories of Indian Pacific, 1992
Parallel Forces, 1988
The Root of all Evil, 1987
Dewi’s poetry, short stories and essays appear in anthologies from a range of publishers:
“Journey to My Cultural Home” in Weaving a Double Cloth; Stories of Asia Pacific Women in Australia (Ed. Myra Jean Bourke, Susanne Holzknecht and Annie Bartlett, Pandanus Books, 2002)
“Exposing Crimes Against Women” in The Last Days of President Suharto (Ed. Edward Aspinall, Herb Feith and Gerry van Klinken, Monash Asia Institute, 1999)
“Rejected by Ibu Pertiwi” in Motherlode (Ed. Stephanie Holt and Maryanne Lynch, Sybylla Feminist Press, 1997)
“From Indonesia to Australia and Back: Cultural Sensitivities” in Crossing Cultures: Essays on Literature & Culture of the Asia-Pacific (Ed.Bruce Bennett, Jeff Doyle, Satendra Nandan, Skoob Books, 1996)
“Illegal” in Our Heritage (Ed. Satyagraha Hoerip, Pustaka Binaman Pressindo, 1993)
“Irritations” in Striking Chords (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Kateryna O Longley, Allen & Unwin, 1992)
“Mal Tombé” in Beyond the Echo (Ed. Sneja Gunew and Jan Mahyuddin UQP, 1988)
“A Foreigner in East Gippsland” in Up From Below (Women’s Redress Press Inc., 1987)