TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A novel by Leila S. Chudori entitled ‘Pulang’ (Going Home) will be published in German language by Weidle Verlag, a book publisher based in Bonn and Berlin, Germany. Now being translated by Sabine Mueller, the book will have ‘Heimkehr nach Jakarta’ as the title.
Stefan and Barbara Weidle from Weidle Verlag are visiting Indonesia to see places mentioned on the novel, including Jakarta, Solo and Yogyakarta. Tempo had the chance to meet them in Yogyakarta.
“Weidle Verlag will start to print at least 3,000 copies of ‘Pulang’ in Germany on July 2015,” said Stefan at Eclipse Hotel Yogyakarta on Friday.
The agreement for the publishing was signed by Barbara Weidle and the Chairman of Indonesian National Committee for the Guest of Honour of 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair Program, Goenawan Mohammad in Leipzig Bookfair, German, on March 14.
Barbara said that the novel is interesting because it depicts Indonesian history that is combined with trauma suffered by people who were affected by 1965 tragedy. The novel is strong in the way that the writer starts it with a research.
“Readers can learn many things about history, people being exiled overseas, and foods. The story is laid in an entertaining way,” Barbara explained.
Barbara and Stefan first recognized the English version of the book that was published by Yayasan Lontar Indonesia.
SHINTA MAHARANI