Heirlooms: Literary Long Table Lunch

Faisal Tehrani is a Malaysian essayist, playwright, and novelist, currently regarded as a controversial figure by the Malaysian authorities for experimenting with diverse forms and introducing alternative discourses in his works. Among his recent publications is the satire Koro, released in Indonesia and translated into English as The Koro Riots in 2022, published by Penguin SEA. In 2022, Faisal wrote the screenplay for the film Maryam Pagi ke Malam with director Badrul Hisham Ismail, which premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2023 to favourable reviews.

Faisal Tehrani adalah esais, penulis naskah, dan novelis asal Malaysia yang kini dianggap sebagai sosok kontroversial oleh pemerintah Malaysia karena kerap bereksperimen dengan berbagai bentuk karya dan menghadirkan wacana alternatif dalam tulisannya. Salah satu karyanya yang terbaru adalah satir berjudul Koro, yang terbit di Indonesia dan diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Inggris dengan judul The Koro Riots pada 2022, diterbitkan oleh Penguin SEA. Pada tahun yang sama, Faisal menulis skenario film Maryam Pagi ke Malam bersama sutradara Badrul Hisham Ismail. Film ini tayang perdana di Festival Film Rotterdam 2023 dan mendapat ulasan positif.

Gail Jones is an acclaimed Australian author of fiction who has won numerous literary awards in Australia. She is the author of two collections of short stories and several novels, including Sixty Lights, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize; Dreams of Speaking, which was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and longlisted for the Orange Prize; and Sorry, which was also longlisted for the Orange Prize. Her latest book, The Name of the Sister, is set to be released in 2025. She is also the author of a critical monograph and the novels Black Mirror, Sixty Lights, Dreams of Speaking, Sorry, Five Bells, and A Guide to Berlin. Three times shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, her prizes include the WA Premier's Award for Fiction, the Nita B. Kibble Award, the Steele Rudd Award, The Age Book of the Year Award, and many others. She has also been shortlisted for international awards, including the IMPAC and the Prix Femina. Her fiction has been translated into nine languages. Jones lives in Sydney and teaches at the University of Western Sydney.

Gail Jones adalah penulis fiksi ternama asal Australia yang telah memenangkan berbagai penghargaan sastra di negaranya. Ia telah menerbitkan dua kumpulan cerita pendek dan sejumlah novel, termasuk Sixty Lights yang masuk daftar panjang Man Booker Prize; Dreams of Speaking yang masuk daftar pendek International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award dan daftar panjang Orange Prize; serta Sorry yang juga masuk daftar panjang Orange Prize. Buku terbarunya, The Name of the Sister, dijadwalkan terbit pada tahun 2025. Selain menulis monograf kritis, Jones juga merupakan penulis novel Black Mirror, Sixty Lights, Dreams of Speaking, Sorry, Five Bells, dan A Guide to Berlin. Ia telah tiga kali masuk nominasi Miles Franklin Award, dan menerima sejumlah penghargaan bergengsi seperti WA Premier's Award for Fiction, Nita B. Kibble Award, Steele Rudd Award, The Age Book of the Year Award, dan banyak lagi. Ia juga masuk dalam daftar pendek penghargaan internasional, termasuk melalui nominasi IMPAC dan Prix Femina. Karya fiksinya telah diterjemahkan ke dalam sembilan bahasa. Gail Jones tinggal di Sydney dan mengajar di University of Western Sydney.

Lech Blaine is an Australian award-winning writer. His second book, Australian Gospel, published in 2024, was awarded The Age Book of the Year for Non-Fiction. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed Car Crash: A Memoir, which was shortlisted for the National Biography Award and two categories at the Queensland Literary Awards. In October 2022, Car Crash was published in the United States and the United Kingdom by Greystone Books. Lech is also the author of two Quarterly Essays: Top Blokes and Bad Cop. He was an inaugural recipient of a Griffith Review Queensland Writers Fellowship, won the Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award in 2017, and received the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Emerging Artist Fellowship in 2019. Most recently, he was the 2023 Charles Perkins Centre Writer in Residence.

Lech Blaine adalah penulis asal Australia peraih berbagai penghargaan. Buku keduanya yang berjudul Australian Gospel, yang terbit pada tahun 2024, memenangkan penghargaan The Age Book of the Year untuk kategori nonfiksi. Ia juga merupakan penulis Car Crash: A Memoir, sebuah karya yang dipuji para kritikus dan masuk dalam daftar pendek National Biography Award serta dua kategori di Queensland Literary Awards. Pada Oktober 2022, Car Crash diterbitkan di Amerika Serikat dan Inggris oleh Greystone Books. Lech juga menulis dua Quarterly Essay berjudul Top Blokes dan Bad Cop. Ia merupakan penerima pertama Griffith Review Queensland Writers Fellowship, memenangkan Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award pada tahun 2017, serta menerima Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Emerging Artist Fellowship pada tahun 2019. Terakhir, ia terpilih sebagai Writer in Residence di Charles Perkins Centre pada tahun 2023.

Luna Vidya is an Indonesian theater performer, poet, and documentary filmmaker. Focusing on social, political, and cultural issues relevant to Eastern Indonesia, women, and marginalized urban communities, her theatrical works are deeply inspired by the complexities of social realities in the region. Through creative mediums such as theater, poetry, and documentary film, Luna has conveyed important messages and offered profound insights into the challenges faced. Born and raised in Jayapura, Papua, where she completed her secondary education, Luna believes in the importance of exploring controversial or taboo themes, issues that may be considered sensitive yet are essential to address. Her approach opens space for constructive dialogue and meaningful positive change. At the Sorong Literary Festival 2025, Luna will launch her poetry collection Ini Sa Suda, fragments of memory for the land she will always call home: Papua.

Luna Vidya adalah penampil teater, penyair, dan pembuat film dokumenter asal Indonesia. Ia banyak menyoroti isu sosial, politik, dan budaya yang berkaitan dengan Indonesia Timur, perempuan, serta komunitas urban yang terpinggirkan. Karya-karya teaternya terinspirasi oleh kompleksitas realitas sosial di wilayah tersebut. Melalui medium kreatif seperti teater, puisi, dan film dokumenter, Luna menyampaikan pesan penting sekaligus menawarkan wawasan mendalam tentang berbagai tantangan yang ada. Lahir dan besar di Jayapura, Papua, tempat ia menyelesaikan pendidikan menengahnya, Luna meyakini pentingnya menggali tema-tema kontroversial atau tabu, isu-isu yang mungkin dianggap sensitif tetapi tetap perlu dibicarakan. Pendekatannya membuka ruang untuk dialog yang konstruktif dan perubahan positif yang bermakna. Pada Sorong Literary Festival 2025, Luna akan meluncurkan kumpulan puisinya Ini Sa Suda, fragmen kenangan untuk tanah yang akan selalu ia sebut rumah: Papua.

Rio Helmi is an Indonesian documentary photographer and Buddhist teacher, born to an Indonesian diplomat father and a Turkish mother. Since 1978, he has captured images across Asia and written extensively, with work appearing in magazines, documentaries, and over 20 large-format photographic books. His solo exhibitions have been held in Bali, Jakarta, Madrid, Miyazaki, Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Sydney, with works in private collections worldwide, including London, Rome, Boston, Washington, and Tokyo. Rio has worked as a photographer, writer, and associate editor for Indonesian media and freelanced for international publications such as Asiaweek, Geo, Harper’s Bazaar, New York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. His notable photo books include River of Gems: A Borneo Journal and Bali Style. He also teaches creativity and visual storytelling, sharing his unique philosophical perspective.

Rio Helmi adalah fotografer dokumenter dan pengajar Buddhisme asal Indonesia, lahir dari ayah seorang diplomat Indonesia dan ibu berdarah Turki. Sejak 1978, ia telah merekam berbagai momen di Asia dan aktif menulis, dengan karya yang tampil di majalah, film dokumenter, serta lebih dari 20 buku fotografi berformat besar. Pameran tunggalnya pernah digelar di Bali, Jakarta, Madrid, Miyazaki, Palo Alto, San Francisco, dan Sydney, sementara karya-karyanya masuk dalam koleksi pribadi di berbagai kota dunia, termasuk London, Roma, Boston, Washington, dan Tokyo. Rio juga pernah bekerja sebagai fotografer, penulis, dan editor asosiasi untuk media di Indonesia, serta menjadi kontributor lepas untuk publikasi internasional seperti Asiaweek, Geo, Harper's Bazaar, New York Times, dan lainnya. Beberapa buku foto terkenalnya antara lain River of Gems: A Borneo Journal dan Bali Style. Selain itu, ia mengajar kreativitas dan visual storytelling dengan membagikan perspektif filosofis yang khas.

Sinéad Gleeson is an Irish Book Award–winning writer whose essay collection Constellations won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards and the Dalkey Literary Award for Emerging Writer. It was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Michel Déon Prize, and has been translated into several languages. She is the editor of four anthologies, including The Art of the Glimpse and the award-winning The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers. Sinéad has collaborated with artists and musicians, with commissions from radio and galleries. She is Co-Editor, with Kim Gordon, of This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music. Her debut novel, Hagstone, was published in 2024 by 4th Estate.

Sinéad Gleeson adalah penulis asal Irlandia peraih Irish Book Award. Kumpulan esainya yang berjudul Constellations memenangkan kategori Non-Fiction Book of the Year di Irish Book Awards dan Dalkey Literary Award untuk Emerging Writer. Buku ini juga masuk dalam daftar pendek Rathbones Folio Prize, James Tait Black Memorial Prize, dan Michel Déon Prize, serta telah diterjemahkan ke dalam beberapa bahasa. Ia merupakan editor dari empat antologi, termasuk The Art of the Glimpse dan The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers yang memenangkan penghargaan. Sinéad juga telah berkolaborasi dengan seniman dan musisi, termasuk untuk proyek-proyek pesanan dari radio dan galeri. Ia adalah editor bersama Kim Gordon untuk buku This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music. Novel debutnya, Hagstone, diterbitkan pada tahun 2024 oleh 4th Estate.