Literature
Felix K. Nesi
Orang-Orang Oetimu
People from Oetimu
Oetimu: suatu wilayah kecil di pelosok Nusa Tenggara Timur. Masa itu adalah paruh kedua 1990an, dan kejadian-kejadian di wilayah Indonesia selebihnya mau tak mau berdampak kepada kehidupan sosial orang-orang di kampung yang terpencil itu. Kolonialisme Indonesia di Timor Timur kian disorot dunia internasional, sementara warisan kekerasan antara militer Indonesia dan gerilyawan Fretilin ikut menyebar ke wilayah sekitarnya, demonstrasi menentang Soeharto kian marak di kalangan mahasiswa, dan Brazil berhadap-hadapan dengan Prancis di final Piala Dunia.
Novel mengasyikkan yang menggambarkan masyarakat Timor Barat dengan segala kepelikannya, di mana gereja, negara, dan tentara berperan besar dalam kehidupan sosial. O ya, juga sopi dan seks.
Felix K. Nesi (1988) lahir di Nesam-Insana, Nusa Tenggara Timur. Novelnya, Orang-Orang Oetimu, menjadi pemenang Sayembara Naskah Novel dari Dewan Kesenian Jakarta tahun 2018, finalis Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa, dan meraih Penghargaan Sastra Kemdikbudristek tahun 2021. Awal 2022 ia menjadi writer-in-residence di International Writing Program dari Universitas Iowa, AS.
Set in the decades of 1970s until 1990s when Indonesia was under the military regime, People from Oetimu introduces us to the lives of people in a small area on Timor island: from a Portuguese family trapped in guerilla warfare between Indonesian troops and East Timorese freedom fighters to a survivor of Japanese slavery who became a beloved storyteller; from a young woman who resent the authorities—whether it’s the state or the church—to a book-smart teenager dealt with consequences of her life choices and blossoming sexuality—all tangled up in a captivating story that combines precise political recounting, stories adapted from articles in newspapers, and fables that the author overheard through Indonesian oral tradition.
Felix K. Nesi (1988) is a rising star in the Indonesian literary scene. He writes novels, short stories, poems, and monologues. In early 2022, he became a writer-in-residence at the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.