Lesik Kati Ara (born November 12, 1937,

Takengon Takengon is a town in Aceh, Indonesia. The town itself sits on three administrative districts of the Central Aceh Regency - Bebesen, Kebayakan, and Lut Tawar, and acts as the seat of Central Aceh Regency. The town is in the highlands of western S ...

, Aceh), better known as LK Ara, is an Indonesian poet.

Brief biography and creativity

Ara graduated from the secondary school of the

Taman Siswa ''Taman Siswa'' ( en, Garden of Pupils) was a Javanese educational movement and school system State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally pri ...

(literally "Garden of Students" or "Students' Garden") system in

and the Department of Journalism Studies at the

University of North Sumatra The University of Sumatera Utara ( id, Universitas Sumatera Utara) or USU is a public university located in the city of Medan in North Sumatra, Indonesia. It is situated in Padang Bulan, in the Medan Baru subdistrict of Medan, close to the City ...

. He worked a teacher in Jakarta from 1959 to 1962, in the office of the Prime Minister in 1962 and 1963, and from 1962 to 1985 at the

Balai Pustaka Balai Pustaka (; also spelled Balai Poestaka, both meaning "Bureau of Literature") is the state-owned publisher of Indonesia and publisher of major pieces of Indonesian literature such as ''Salah Asuhan'', ''Sitti Nurbaya'' and ''Layar Terkemb ...

publishing house, as a correspondent of several newspapers in

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four mai ...

. He also collected folklore. He is the author of 35 poetry collections (first in 1969), compiler of two anthologies of poems by Aceh poets (1995, 2003). In his poems, along with a description of the nature of his native place, a great attention is given to the difficult life of peasants, especially of collectors of the coffee beans which is a local speciality of the area. He often recites his poems at the various meetings of poets both at home and in other countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei). April 6, 2018, he participated in the meeting of the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo with a group of Indonesian writers in the State Palace in Jakarta.

Awards

*Prize of the Government of Aceh (2009)Sastra. Puisi-puisi L.R. Ara
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Family

Ara's father is H. Harun Rashid, his mother is H. Siti Maryam, and his spouse is Ine Hidayah.

References

Indonesian writers Indonesian male poets 20th-century male writers Gayonese people 1937 births Living people University of North Sumatra alumni {{Indonesia-poet-stub