Oyos Saroso H.N.
Three years of working as a politician in his homeland of West Kutai, East Kalimantan, has not let the attention of novelist Korrie Layun Rampan, one of the nation's most well known short story writers and arguably the best literary critic in Indonesia, drift from his concerns with the development of Indonesian literature.
The case was proved when Korrie Layun Rampan won the fifth Indonesian Short Story Congress (KCI) prize in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, at the end of October, 2007.
At that event Korrie Layun Rampan did not just feature as one of the stars. Korrie also took part as a discussion panelist talking about the problems of using local color in the writing of Indonesian short stories.
He also showed that he remains an acute observer and, till now, one of the best critics of Indonesian literature. That claim was proved with his lucid comments about Indonesian authors and the growth of Indonesian literature, right through to the most up-to-date authors.
Korrie has long been famous as a writer and as an insightful critic of Indonesian literature. His work, observations and criticisms of Indonesian literature have been collected in more than 200 books.
They include seven novels, 31 short story collections, seven poetry collections, 11 collections of literary criticism, 35 children's storybooks, six books about Indonesian literary giants and seven books about writing. Apart from this significant output, his works have also been published in more than 80 anthologies.
Even though he has produced hundreds of books, Korrie is still downhearted. First because he has had great difficulties in organizing the Korrie Layun Rampan collection that is located in Bekasi, West Java, and in Jakarta.
His second disappointment is because so many of his writings have yet to be published.
In the world of Indonesian literature, Korrie is a diligent bibliographer. He can be compared to H.B. Jassin who in his time became an icon of criticism and a great classifier of Indonesian literature.
Korrie confessed he wanted to take his own collection to East Kalimantan. "But that would be extremely expensive because if we brought the books by ship we'd need some containers. In West Kutai I still don't have a house. My house in Bekasi is still there. But in the land where I was born, I still rent," said the father of six children.
The materials he would like to move include typescripts ready for printing and piled to a height of more than 2.5 meters. According to Korrie, there are many books that could be classified as literature and are awaiting publication. But that has not happened because few publishers are willing to take the risk.
"The publishers are afraid because they think that literature doesn't sell. Publishers are more interested in promoting popular works than works of literature. And then there are the essays and literary criticisms that few publishers want to produce," he said.
The man of letters who has lived for a long time in Yogyakarta and Jakarta confessed that he was very disappointed the publication of two volumes of his work about the literary figures of the generation of 2000 had been canceled by a famous publisher in Indonesia.
"The first volume is titled Generation 2000 in Indonesian Literature. If the two volumes are published they will mark the most up-to-date developments in Indonesian literature. But I don't want to give up. Although many of my works haven't been published yet I still keep writing poetry, short stories and literary criticism.
"One of my novels recently won a competition that was held by the Jakarta Arts Council," said the winner of the Art Prize sponsored by the Indonesian government.
This writer, who has Dayak blood, revealed that although he is now involved in the world of politics -- Korrie became the head of the Democrat Party in the West Kutai regency legislature -- he finds the literary world impossible to quit.
"Literature is my calling, it's my soul. Now I try to create a balance between my activities in the world of literature with those in the world of politics. I have proved the two really can run side by side," said the first prizewinner in the novel section at the Jakarta Arts Council in 1976.
Korrie was born in Samarinda on Aug. 17, 1953. When he was a young man Korrie lived for a long time in Yogyakarta. While studying at university in Yogyakarta, Korrie was active in many literary activities. He joined the study group Persada Studi Klub (PSK -- homeland literary club), which was then led by the poet Umbu Landu Paranggi.
The PSK, which coordinated hundreds of literary activities, also nurtured many famous literary identities, including Emha Ainun Nadjib, Linus Suryadi AG, Achmad Munif, Arwan Tuti Artha, Ragil Suwarna Pragolapati, Iman Budhi Santosa, Suminto A Sayuti, Naning Indratni, Yudhistira ANM, Massardi and Gunoto Saparie.
In 1978, Korrie moved to Jakarta and was employed as a journalist and book editor in publishing companies. From the 1980s to the 1990s he worked as a broadcaster with the Indonesian Republic Radio and at TVRI's studio headquarters in Jakarta. He also taught and became financial director and an editor of Sarinah magazine in Jakarta.
It was always his intention to introduce reforms to his homeland in West Kutai, East Kalimantan. He set up a newspaper Sentawar Pos in 2001 while he taught at Sentawar University in West Kutai, East Kalimantan.
In the 2004 election he stood as a candidate for the Democratic Party contesting a seat in the Legislative Assembly as a member of West Kutai regency. Now Korrie is a member of the West Kutai regency legislature for the 2004-2009 term.
Although he has become an MP, Korrie remains an active writer because he also sees his job as being a journalist and cultural ambassador. This involves regular trips between West Kutai and Jakarta.
As an author, Korrie has become famous for his creativity. Many of his works have been published, including novels, short stories, poetry, children's stories and essays.
He has also translated around 100 titles of children's storybooks and dozens of short stories from around the world, including the works of short story writers like Leo Tolstoy, Guy de Maupassant, Knut Hamsun, Anton Chekhov, O Henry and Luigi Pirandello.
His novel Ceremony won a prize in the novel-writing section of the Jakarta Arts Council in 1976. Another novel titled Api, Awan Asap (Fire, Cloud, Smoke) won a similar prize in 1998. His short stories, essays, book reviews, film scripts and his journalism have won him prizes in many contests.
Children's stories that he has written have also won prizes from the Yayasan Buku Utama (the foundation for significant books) and the Culture and Education Department, namely Cuaca di Atas Gunung dan Lembah, (the Weather atop the Mountain and Hill) 1985 and Manusia Langit (Heavenly Man) 1997.
Many of his books have been listed as reading and reference texts in elementary, junior high and senior high schools, and at universities
Source: The Jakarta Post, November 10, 2007
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