Handbook for the Displaced reflects Block’s search for identity, his own and his grandparents’. Balancing different cultures and nationalities, he travels to modern Indonesia, where 400 years of history, colonial and otherwise, are brought to life through the voices of the characters he encounters: the recalcitrant Javanese ancestral mother who is constantly at odds with his standoffish European forefather, a young Jakartan influencer who literally carries her secrets on her body and an unpredictable guide who links the underworld and the spirit world. With rich images and subtle humour, this poetry collection is an intimate and gripping travel story, in which Block ties the deeply personal to a universal history. For all who are trying to find a place among flags and nations. — “Identity has its ghostly part, i.e. one’s past. It can be nightmarish, but mostly it is elusive, intriguing, and upsetting. Robin Block’s poetry says poignantly about it. Being Dutch and at the same time having an Indonesian origin, (which is his persona), is a perpetual displacement. But it is also an endless encounter with the other, including “those living dead” who return, again and again, afresh, to his space. Block uses the figure of Susilo as a kind of proxy: Susilo can never be alone
all those living dead
repeating their youth
outside officer hours I enjoy reading Robin Block’s poems because they are true to what poetry is about. It is a way to remember but not to repeat—to welcome what is elusive.” —Goenawan Mohamad, Indonesian poet “Robin Block’s poems are like spirits returning from the past, emerging from a lost tomb that longs to be rediscovered. In Indonesia, we may be drifting further away from this past, but that is precisely why these poems are so vital. They are ghosts that transcend veils, time, and continents.” —Ayu Utami, novelist and Prince Claus Awards winner
Penulis: Robin Block
Penerjemah: David Colmer (dari Bahasa: Belanda ke Bahasa: Inggris)
Editor: Ining Isaiyas
Perancang Sampul: & Penataletak: Leopold Adi Surya
Kategori: Fiksi, Puisi
Terbit: 9 Oktober 2024
Harga: Rp99.000
Tebal: 155 halaman
Ukuran: 135 mm x 200 mm
Sampul: Softcover
ISBN: 9786231341358
ISBN: Digital: 9786231341365
ID KPG: 592402308
Usia: 13+
Bahasa: Inggris
Penerbit: KPG
