TERRA: A Bilingual Anthology from WordStorm, the NT Writers’ Festival
(article reproduced in Write Turn May 2007, the newsletter of the NT Writers’ Centre)

Following is NT Writers’ Centre Executive Officer Sandra Thibodeaux’s insightful Introduction for the anthology Terra, a terrain she knows all too well.
“I have read TERRA many times. In the early stages of compiling this collection, I read TERRA in the slaughter of the Madurese retold by Ayu Utami, in the trauma of Richard J Frankland’s Koori investigator into Black Deaths in Custody, and in the chillingly sparse poetry of Graham Nunn. I smelled TERRA in Sam Wagan Watson’s No Man’s Land, in the cornfields of Melchior dias Fernandes, and in the early morning strollings of Gregory Day. TERRA referred to terrorism in Mark Bowling’s story on the first anniversary of the (first) Bali Bombings, while the terror experienced by an Indonesian soldier in Linda Christanty’s Maria Pinto’s Flying Horse, brilliantly unsettled my understanding of armed conflict and masculinity.

Thus, it is easy to see why this anthology was named TERRA. The short stories and poetry contributed by the writers—who have all been guests at WordStorm, the NT Writers’ Festival (2004-2006)—reflect something of our contemporary times in this Austronesian region. The works speak to notions of land and ownership, conflict and resolution, and the human struggle to survive and make sense of the world. At the heart of the works, however, is the love that sustains, most apparent in the poetry contributed by our Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australian, East Timorese, Indonesian and Singaporean poets such as Romaine Moreton, Abé Barreto Soares, Pru Gell, Iswadi Pratama, Alvin Pang, MTC Cronin, Leni Shilton and many more.

I think you will find that all of the works contained within TERRA are exceptional, and, indeed, I haven’t tired of reading this anthology over six re-reads. While I have named some of the works above in relation to the core theme, there are many other ‘great reads’ – the dry wit of Frank Moorhouse, Nick Earls and Marian Devitt; the pain and passion of Dorothea Rosa Herliany, Peter Bakowski, Vonia Vieira, Nukila Amal, Kaye Aldenhoven and Dorothy Porter; the storytelling of Jared Thomas, Alec Kruger and Gerard Waterford, and Sitok Srengenge; and the originality of Sean M Whelan and Triyanto Triwikromo.”

There are many people to thank for this anthology – our sponsors, Australia-Indonesia Institute, ArtsNT and the IALF; all of the contributing writers; and the various people who worked on this anthology in both Darwin, Bali and Jakarta. While Sitok Srengenge, Kadek Krishna Adidharma and myself comprised the core editorial team, other people such as Maurice O’Riordan, Andy Ewing, Wikan Satriati, Susan Wills, Jane Hampson and Bronwyn Wright contributed many hours of work on this project.

I stand to be corrected, but believe that this Indonesian-English anthology of short stories and poetry from the Austronesian region is a first. I hope that it contributes to deepening our understanding of the terra, the terror and the terrible beauty of the lands and peoples of this part of the world.”

Copyright TERRA © NT Writers’ Centre, 2007
Copyright of individual texts remains with the authors.
Copyright of translations remains with the translators.

The anthology is available from: http://www.ntwriters.com.au