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

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

– 4 August 1970 in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

) 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 after negotiations failed. With the advantage of surprise the Dutch managed to capture the Indonesian Republic's t ...

, against the Republic of Indonesia's temporary capital in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of 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 a monarchy, ...

(1948/49). After he was released, he graduated from high school in Medan. He studied medicine at the

Nederlandsch-Indische Artsen School The Nederlandsch-Indische Artsen School (Dutch: Netherland Indies School of Physicians), commonly known by its initials NIAS, was a medical training school for Javanese and other Pribumi students which operated in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies from ...

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

but did not graduate. He then went to the Netherlands and studied anthropology at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

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 and international graduate school of policy-oriented critical social science. ISS was established in 1952 by Dutch universities and the Neth ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, 1957; and philosophy in Paris with Prof.

Jean Wahl Jean André Wahl (; 25 May 188819 June 1974) was a French philosopher. Early career Wahl was educated at the École Normale Supérieure. He was a professor at the University of Paris, Sorbonne from 1936 to 1967, broken by World War II. He was in ...

at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

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 ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

Literary Award for the Novel in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

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 I Gusti Ngurah Putu Wijaya (born April 11, 1944), better known simply as Putu Wijaya, was born in Tabanan, Bali. He is an Indonesian author, considered by many to be one of Indonesia's most prominent literary figures. His output is impressive; ...

were the two "genuinely distinguished fictionalists" produced by Indonesia since Independence and both had a strong attachment to "

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

Selected works

* Bulan Bujur Sangkar (drama, 1960), * RT Nol/RW Nol (drama, 1966) * Petang di Taman (drama, 1966, seharusnya judulnya Taman, diubah penerbit menjadi Petang di Taman), * ''Merahnya Merah'' (novel, 1968) * ''Ziarah'' (novel, 1969), * ''Kering'' (novel, 1972, * ''Koong'' (novel, 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 Indonesian writers 20th-century Indonesian poets People of Batak descent 20th-century male writers