Short Stories, Long Nights

Ege Dündar is a Turkish writer and activist, serving as PEN International’s youngest board member. He works to support writers at risk and leads initiatives with peers from 58 countries to develop the Young Writers Committee and Tomorrow Club, amplifying brave young voices worldwide. His debut book, All These Things Aren't Really Lost, was featured in Best New British and Irish Poets 2019–2021. He has also worked as a researcher on exile media in Europe and artistic freedom. His fable Duvar (The Wall) was co-written with his father, Can Dündar — a journalist who was unlawfully arrested in Turkey. After facing an armed assault and the illegal confiscation of their assets and passports, the family was forced to leave the country.

Ege Dündar adalah penulis dan aktivis asal Turki yang saat ini menjabat sebagai anggota dewan termuda di PEN International. Ia bekerja untuk mendukung para penulis yang berada dalam situasi berisiko, serta menggerakkan berbagai inisiatif bersama rekan-rekannya dari 58 negara untuk mengembangkan Komite Penulis Muda dan Tomorrow Club, yang bertujuan mengangkat suara-suara muda pemberani dari seluruh dunia. Buku debutnya, All These Things Aren't Really Lost, masuk dalam daftar Best New British and Irish Poets 2019–2021. Ia juga pernah bekerja sebagai peneliti media pengasingan di Eropa dan kebebasan artistik. Fabelnya yang berjudul Duvar (The Wall) ditulis bersama ayahnya, Can Dündar, seorang jurnalis yang ditangkap secara tidak sah di Turki. Setelah menghadapi serangan bersenjata serta penyitaan ilegal atas aset dan paspor mereka, keluarganya terpaksa meninggalkan negara tersebut.

Eva Fernandes is an Indian, Bali-based writer, poet, playwright, and spoken-word artist. Her work explores transnational identity, belonging, feminism, grief, and ultimately love. Eva is the author of the book DeColonize Your Eyes and the plays Fat Dharma, GOLD, and Gifts of Grief. Previously, she trained and worked as a journalist in the Middle East, where she published for Yahoo, The New York Times T Magazine, Kippreport, and Gulf News, among other publications.

Eva Fernandes adalah penulis, penyair, penulis naskah drama, dan seniman spoken-word asal India yang kini menetap di Bali. Karyanya banyak mengeksplorasi identitas transnasional, rasa memiliki, feminisme, kehilangan, dan pada akhirnya, cinta. Ia adalah penulis buku DeColonize Your Eyes, serta naskah drama Fat Dharma, GOLD, dan Gifts of Grief. Sebelumnya, Eva menempuh pelatihan dan berkarier sebagai jurnalis di Timur Tengah, dengan tulisan-tulisannya pernah dimuat di Yahoo, The New York Times T Magazine, Kippreport, Gulf News, dan berbagai media lainnya.

Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas is an Indonesian poet and essayist. She began her writing career by founding Komunitas BungaMatahari, an online poetry collective, in 2000. She is now involved as one of the organizers of Paviliun Puisi, a monthly poetry reading event held in Jakarta. She received an Honourable Mention from the Hawker Prize for Southeast Asian Poetry in 2018. She was selected as a Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange (WrICE) Fellow in 2018 as part of a writing residency managed by RMIT University and was also one of the recipients of travel funding to Scotland from the National Book Committee and the Ministry of Education and Culture through the Indonesian Writers Residency program in 2018. Her poetry collections include Kota Ini Kembang Api, published by GPU in 2016 and 2025, Non-Spesifik, published by GPU in 2017, and e_____y, published by GPU in 2022, along with the essay collection Familiar Messes and Other Essays, published by KPG in 2017. Her work also appears in several anthologies and in newspapers, journals, and magazines in Indonesia and abroad.

Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas adalah penyair dan esais asal Indonesia. Ia memulai karier menulis dengan mendirikan Komunitas BungaMatahari, sebuah kolektif puisi daring, pada tahun 2000. Saat ini, ia terlibat sebagai salah satu penyelenggara Paviliun Puisi, acara pembacaan puisi bulanan yang digelar di Jakarta. Pada 2018, ia menerima Honourable Mention dari Hawker Prize for Southeast Asian Poetry. Pada tahun yang sama, ia terpilih sebagai Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange WrICE Fellow dalam program residensi menulis yang dikelola RMIT University, sekaligus menjadi salah satu penerima dana perjalanan ke Skotlandia dari Komite Buku Nasional dan Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan melalui program Indonesian Writers Residency. Kumpulan puisinya antara lain Kota Ini Kembang Api, GPU 2016 dan 2025, Non-Spesifik, GPU 2017, dan e_____y, GPU 2022, serta kumpulan esai Familiar Messes and Other Essays, KPG 2017. Karya-karyanya juga dimuat dalam beberapa antologi, surat kabar, jurnal, dan majalah, baik di Indonesia maupun di luar negeri.

Neal Hall is a US-American award-winning, internationally acclaimed poet, held as one of the most dynamic poets in North America. Hall’s poetry speaks beyond the surface pain of injustice and inhumanity, deep into that pain labeled and packaged into genteel socio-political-economic-religious constructs designed to hide the subjugator and subjugation, and blur the common lines of cause that make up our shared story. His most recent work, The Trembling Tiber, a Black poet’s meditation on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, earned him an invitation to read at the renowned Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Hall is a trained medical-surgical eye physician and a graduate of Cornell and Harvard Universities.

Neal Hall adalah penyair Amerika peraih penghargaan yang dianggap sebagai salah satu suara terkuat dalam dunia puisi di Amerika Utara. Puisi-puisinya mengangkat isu-isu ketidakadilan dan penderitaan manusia, mengungkap bagaimana masyarakat sering menyembunyikan atau menyamarkan berbagai bentuk penindasan melalui sistem sosial, politik, dan agama yang kompleks. Buku terbarunya, The Trembling Tiber, mengkaji Julius Caesar karya Shakespeare dari perspektif penyair Kulit Hitam. Karya ini mendapat sambutan yang sangat baik sehingga ia diundang untuk mempresentasikannya di Institut Shakespeare yang bergengsi di Stratford-upon-Avon, Inggris. Di luar karirnya sebagai penyair, Hall juga merupakan dokter bedah mata yang menempuh pendidikan di dua universitas terkemuka Amerika, Cornell dan Harvard.

Omar Musa is an Australian author, visual artist, rapper, and poet. He has released four poetry books, including Killernova, and four hip-hop records. In 2015, he was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year. His debut novel, Here Come the Dogs, was longlisted for both the International Dublin Literary Award and the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s most prestigious literary award. His one-man play, Since Ali Died, won Best Cabaret Show at the Sydney Theatre Awards in 2018. He has performed at venues such as the Brixton Academy in London, the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City, and the National Museum in Brasília, Brazil. He is based between Brooklyn and Borneo.

Omar Musa adalah penulis, seniman visual, rapper, dan penyair asal Australia. Ia telah menerbitkan empat buku puisi, termasuk Killernova, serta merilis empat album hip-hop. Pada 2015, ia dinobatkan sebagai salah satu Young Novelists of the Year oleh Sydney Morning Herald. Novel debutnya, Here Come the Dogs, masuk dalam daftar panjang International Dublin Literary Award dan Miles Franklin Literary Award, dua penghargaan sastra paling bergengsi di Australia. Pertunjukan monolognya, Since Ali Died, meraih penghargaan Best Cabaret Show pada Sydney Theatre Awards 2018. Omar juga telah tampil di berbagai panggung ternama, seperti Brixton Academy di London, Brooklyn Academy of Music di New York, dan National Museum di Brasília, Brasil. Saat ini, ia berbagi waktu tinggal antara Brooklyn dan Borneo.

Ray Shabir is an Indonesian poet and writer. His first book, Public Feelings & Other Acts, was published in 2018 and followed the next year by his art show Gallery of Anxiety. In 2021, he released his second book, KINK, his first poetry collection. He has also worked as a model, artist, writer, graphic designer, and interior decorator. He is currently working on his next book.

Ray Shabir adalah penyair dan penulis asal Indonesia. Buku pertamanya, Public Feelings & Other Acts, diterbitkan pada 2018 dan setahun kemudian diikuti oleh pameran seni Gallery of Anxiety. Pada 2021, ia merilis buku keduanya, KINK, yang merupakan kumpulan puisi pertamanya. Selain itu, ia juga pernah bekerja sebagai model, seniman, penulis, desainer grafis, dan dekorator interior. Saat ini, ia tengah mengerjakan buku barunya.

Shinta Febriany is an Indonesian director, playwright, and poet whose works explore gender issues, embodiment, and urban life in Eastern Indonesia. In 2007, she received the Celebes Award from the South Sulawesi Provincial Government for her contributions to theatre. She has published two poetry collections: Aku Bukan Masa Depan in 2013 and Gambar Kesunyian di Jendela in 2017. Since 2015, she has led the City in Theatre Project with Kala Teater, a research-based performance initiative running through 2025 that examines urban issues through the voices of city residents. In 2018, she participated in the Indonesian Writers Residency in the United Kingdom, supported by the National Book Committee. This year, she was appointed as one of the curators for the 2025 Festival’s Emerging Writers program.

Shinta Febriany adalah sutradara, penulis naskah, dan penyair Indonesia yang karyanya mengeksplorasi isu-isu gender, ketubuhan, dan kehidupan perkotaan di Indonesia Timur. Pada 2007, ia menerima Penghargaan Celebes dari Pemerintah Provinsi Sulawesi Selatan atas kontribusinya dalam dunia teater. Ia telah menerbitkan dua kumpulan puisi: Aku Bukan Masa Depan (2013) dan Gambar Kesunyian di Jendela (2017). Sejak 2015, ia menginisiasi City in Theatre Project bersama Kala Teater, sebuah inisiatif pertunjukan berbasis riset yang berlangsung hingga 2025 dan mengkaji isu-isu perkotaan melalui suara-suara warga kota. Pada 2018, ia mengikuti program Residensi Penulis Indonesia di Inggris yang didukung oleh Komite Buku Nasional. Tahun ini, ia ditunjuk sebagai salah satu kurator program Emerging Writers di Festival 2025.