Nirwan Dewanto (born 28 September 1961) is an Indonesian poet, curator and cultural critic. He is also known for his depiction of

Albertus Soegijapranata Albertus Soegijapranata, SJ (Indonesian: ; Perfected Spelling: Albertus Sugiyapranata; 25 November 1896 – 22 July 1963), better known by his birth name Soegija, was a Jesuit priest who became the Apostolic Vicar of Semarang and later ...

in the 2012

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

Soegija ''Soegija'' is an epic history drama of Indonesia, directed by the senior director of Indonesia Garin Nugroho, about national hero Albertus Soegijapranata. The film, starring actors with a diversity of cultural backgrounds, is launched in Indone ...

''.

Biography

Dewanto was born in

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 ...

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

, on 28 September 1961. While still in senior high school he was already writing poetry; the poems were published in local magazines such as ''Kuncung'' and ''Kartini''. Dewanto did his university studies at the Bandung Institute of Technology in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

, from 1980 to 1987, where he received a degree in geology. He then moved to

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 ...

. In 1991 Dewanto was a speaker at the National Cultural Conference. He later became well known for his cultural commentary. Dewanto became editor of the magazine ''Kalam'' at its launch in February 1994, along with poet

Goenawan Mohamad Goenawan Mohamad (born 29 July 1941) is an Indonesian poet, essayist, playwright and editor. He is the founder and editor of the Indonesian magazine ''Tempo''. Mohamad is a vocal critic of the Indonesian government, and his magazine was periodic ...

. In 1996 Dewanto released a collection of essays entitled ''Senjakala Kebudayaan''. Dewanto served on the first round jury of the inaugural Khatulistiwa Award in 2001. He was later critical of the process, stating that the jury generally did not properly understand the works they were selecting and at times seemed to act randomly. and had released a poetry anthology, ''Buku Cacing'' (''Book of Worms''). Dewanto won the Khatulistiwa Award in 2008 for his poetry anthology ''Jantung Ratu Lebah'' (''The Queen Bee's Heart''); the award included Rp 100 million (US$8,800) in cash. Short story writer Seno Gumira Ajidarma, a judge on the panel, described the anthology as showing great achievement. In 2010 Dewanto released a poetry anthology entitled ''Buli-Buli Lima Kaki'' (''Jars with Five Feet''). The following year several of his works were put to music by

Dian HP Dian Hadipranowo (born 2 August 1965), better known as Dian HP, is an Indonesian composer. Biography Dian was born in Tunis on 2 August 1965 to a diplomat and his wife. As a toddler, she would eat her meals near the family piano and play her own ...

and Dewanto's wife, singer Nyak Ina Raseuki; Dewanto also performed poetry readings at the events. In 2012 Dewanto played the

Archbishop of Semarang The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Semarang ( la, Semarangen(sis)) is a Metropolitan Latin archdiocese on Java in Indonesia, yet it depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is ...

in the

'', directed by Garin Nugroho. Nugroho said that he cast Dewanto owing to the latter's physical resemblance to Soegijapranata, despite Dewanto not being Catholic; meanwhile, Dewanto said that Nugroho had been very insistent that he take the role. Indah Setiawati, writing for ''

The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Niskala Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian med ...

'', found him to have performed well, although she considered him to appear uncomfortable in some scenes.

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewanto, Nirwan 1961 births Living people Javanese people Indonesian Muslims 20th-century Indonesian poets 21st-century Indonesian poets Indonesian male poets 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers