The Japan Foundation Asia Center initiated the Asian Literature Project "YOMU". The name of the project means "read" in Japanese and it will feature new stories written by 27 Asian authors from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in multiple languages.

"The project will also introduce today's literary arts scene in Asia by featuring various reports and interviews," said the foundation in its announcement.

"In the time of COVID-19 pandemic when the world and our daily lives have drastically changed and cross-border travel been restricted, what are the thoughts of Asian authors and what messages do they wish to deliver to their readers?"

A complete list of work is available on the official Japan Foundation website.

 

 

 

 

 

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Today's Asia as portrayed in short stories and essays
YOMU promises 27 short stories and essays by Asian authors who started their career in the 2000s or later and are expected to continue writing at home and abroad. The grand theme for this writing project is Asia under the global pandemic and in the post COVID-19 era. The works will be mainly available in Japanese, English and source languages.

From Indonesia, the project has invited five up-and-coming authors to contribute newly-written works that reflect the era of the "new normal." From an archipelago of more than 14,000 islands boasting a diversity of regional cultures and livelihoods, Aceh, Wajo, Bandung, Lampung, and Jakarta are the regions of the select writers.

They are Jakarta-based travel writer Agustinus Wibowo; Azhari Aiyub, a writer based in the autonomous province of Aceh in Sumatra, known for its Islamic government; Faisal Oddang, an author and poet from the island of Sulawesi; Intan Paramaditha, a native of Bandung, the capital of West Java province, who is now based in Australia; and Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie, one of the rising young authors from Lampung, Sumatra.

All essays, originally written in Bahasa Indonesia, are available at these links:

• "A New World, A New Self" by Agustinus Wibowo, translated by Ninus Andarnuswari,
• "Durian and the Plague" by Azhari Aiyub, translated by Ninus Andarnuswari,
• "The Wandering - Entrapped: Pandemic, Movement, and Privilege" by Intan Paramaditha, translated by Stephen J. Epstein. 

While the short stories, also originally written in Bahasa Indonesia, are available at these links:

• "Open Tribunal" by Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie, translated by Stephen J. Epstein, and
• "On Sounds" by Faisal Oddang, translated by Rara Rizal. 

You can also visit the works from Malaysia here and from Vietnam here.