Iwan Martua Lokot Dongan Simatupang, more commonly known as Iwan Simatupang (18 January 1928 in Sibolga,

North Sumatra North Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It borders Aceh to the northwest, Riau to the sou ...

– 4 August 1970 in Jakarta, Indonesia) was an Indonesian novelist, poet and essayist.

Life and works

He joined the (TRIP), becoming a Commander, and was captured in North Sumatra during

Operation Kraai Operation Kraai (Operation Crow) was a Dutch military offensive against the '' de facto'' Republic of Indonesia in December 1948, following the failure of negotiations. With the advantage of surprise, the Dutch managed to capture the Indonesi ...

, against the Republic of Indonesia's temporary capital in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

(1948/49). After he was released, he graduated from high school in Medan. He studied medicine at the Nederlandsch-Indische Artsen School in Surabaya but did not graduate. He then went to the Netherlands and studied anthropology at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

from 1954 to 1956, followed by the Full Course of the

International Institute of Social Studies The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam is an independent international graduate school of policy-oriented social science. ISS was established in 1952 by Dutch universities and the Netherlands Mini ...

at The Hague, 1957; and philosophy in Paris with Prof. Jean Wahl at the Sorbonne in 1958. He worked as a high school teacher in Surabaya, also serving as editor of ''Siasat'' (Strategy) magazine, and the ''Warta Harian'' (Daily News) (1966–1970). His first writings were published in ''Siasat'' and ''Mimbar Indonesia'' (Indonesian Pulpit). In 1963, he won second prize from ''Sastra'' (Literature) magazine for his essay "Kebebasan Pengarang dan Masalah Tanah Air" (Writers' Freedom and the Problems of the Motherland). Most of his early works were short stories, poems and plays. He wrote his first novel, ''Ziarah'' (The Pilgrim) in a month in 1960; the novel was published in Indonesia in 1969, and was awarded the first

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

Literary Award for the Novel in Bangkok in 1977. He wrote two novels in 1961, ''Merahnya Merah'' (Red in Red) was published in 1968 (and received a National Literary Award in 1970) and ''Kering'' (Drought) was published in 1972. According to

Benedict Anderson Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson (August 26, 1936 – December 13, 2015) was an Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian who lived and taught in the United States. Anderson is best known for his 1983 book ''Imagined Communities'', which e ...

, Iwan Simatupang and Putu Wijaya were the two "genuinely distinguished fictionalists" produced by Indonesia since Independence and both had a strong attachment to "

magical realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical rea ...

Selected works

* Bulan Bujur Sangkar (drama, 1960) * Kebebasan Pengarang dan Masalah Tanah Air (essai, 1963) * RT Nol/RW Nol (drama, 1966) * Petang di Taman (drama, 1966, seharusnya judulnya Taman, diubah penerbit menjadi Petang di Taman), * ''Merahnya Merah'' (novel, 1961, publ. 1968) * ''Ziarah'' (novel, 1960, publ. 1969), * ''Kering'' (novel, 1961, publ. 1972) * ''Koong'' (novel, publ. 1975, Prize winner Yayasan Buku Utama Departeman P dan K, 1975) * Tegak Lurus dengan Langit (collection of short stories, 1982, Ed. Dami N. Toda) * Sejumlah Masalah Sastra (collection of essays, 1982, Ed. Satyagraha Hoerip) * Surat-Surat Politik Iwan Simatupang 1964–1966 (1986, Ed. Frans M. Parera) * Ziarah Malam (collection of poetry, 1993, Ed. Oyon Sofyan dan S. Samsoerizal Dar).

References

* Eneste, Pamusuk (2001). Buku pintar sastra Indonesia : biografi pengarang dan karyanya, majalah sastra, penerbit sastra, penerjemah, lembaga sastra, daftar hadiah dan penghargaan. Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Kompas. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Simatupang, Iwan 1928 births 1970 deaths Indonesian male poets 20th-century Indonesian poets People of Batak descent 20th-century Indonesian male writers