Widji Thukul (born 26 August 1963) is an

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

poet and activist. His work is political, often critical of the

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and the social conditions of the country. He has been missing since 1998.

Life

Born on 26 August 1963, Thukul attended junior high school, but left middle school in 1982 due to his family's financial constraints. Early jobs included newspaper-seller, ticket-scalper, and finisher in a furniture shop. As well as being a poet, Thukul was also a musician and also accompanied a theatre group, Theater Jagat, around

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. In 1988, Thukul married Dyah Sujirah. They had two children. Together they founded an arts group called Sanggar Suka Banjir (Frequent Flooding Studio). Thukul helped organize workers demonstrations and was a member of ''Partai Rakyat Demokratik'' (

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). In a worker demonstration in 1995, Thukul was struck in the eye by a rifle butt, causing permanent damage to his sight. His last contact with his wife was in February 1998. In April of that year he was seen in a demonstration in

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but has not been seen since. It is suspected that he was one of many anti-government protesters abducted by government forces during the anti-Suharto demonstrations.

Publications

* ''Puisi Pelo (Lisping Poetry)'', published by Taman Budaya Surakata, Solo, 1984. * ''Darman dan Lain-lain (Darman and the Others)'', published by Taman Budaya Surakata, Solo, 1994. * ''Mencari Tanah Lapang (Looking for an Open Plot of Land)'', published by Manus Amici, 1994. * ''Aku Ingin Jadi Peluru (I Want to be a Bullet)'', published by IndonesiaTera, Magelang, 2000.

Awards

Thukul's ''Looking for an Open Plot of Land'' won the 'Encourage Award' from the Netherlands-based Wertheim Foundation.

References

Notes

Some of this information in this article is taken from the biographical essay 'Wiji Thukul: People's Poet' by Tinuk R. Yampolsky, in ''Menagerie'' 5, edited by John McGlynn and Laora Arkeman, Lontar Foundation, Jakarta, 2003.

External links