AustLit

Dorothea Rosa Herliany is a major contemporary Indonesian poet. She has been Director of IndonesiaTera, a non-profit organisation working in the area of social and cultural research, publication, documentation, and the development of information networks relating to culture, education and social awareness.

Herliany writes short stories and poetry, as well as running a publishing company in Indonesia. Her work boldly and uncompromisingly explores the tensions arising from conventional patriarchal expectations towards women in a rapidly changing Indonesia. The first Asialink Literature Resident to Australia in 2000, she was hosted by the University of Western Australia and La Trobe University, Melbourne as well as giving talks in Tasmania and Sydney. During her residency Herliany worked on a bilingual translation of her poetry with Harry Aveling from La Trobe University as well as writing a great deal of new material inspired by her visit to Australia.

(Source: Australian Women's Book Review. vol.14 no.2 2002; Asialink website)