Eka Kurniawan


Eka Kurniawan is an Indonesian writer and graphic designer.

Biography

He was born in Tasikmalaya, West Java, and grew up in a small coastal town Pangandaran. He studied philosophy at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. Kurniawan currently lives in Jakarta. He writes novels, short stories, movie scripts, and blog, as well as essays. His works are translated into more than 24 languages. His novel, Beauty is a Wound, was included in the list of 100 notable books by The New York Times. The use of Magic realism in the book has led to comparisons to Gabriel García Márquez. Kurniawan has insisted that Beauty is a Wound is neither a historical novel nor a book about Indonesian history. Kurniawan's style of "approaching social concerns at an angle rather than head-on, with hefty doses of surrealism and wry humour" also draws comparisons to Haruki Murakami. He has been described as "Indonesia’s finest writer since Pramoedya Ananta Toer" and "Indonesia's most exciting author."
In 2016, Kurniawan became the first Indonesian writer to be nominated for a Man Booker International Prize.

Awards and honours

;Novels
;Short stories
;Non-fiction