John H. McGlynn | |
---|---|
Born | Cazenovia, Wisconsin, U.S. | October 14, 1952
Pen name | Willem Samuels |
Occupation | Editor and Translator |
Language | English and Indonesian |
Education | M.A., Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1981); B.A., Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison (1975). |
Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Notable works | Indonesia in the Soeharto Years: Issues, Incidents, Images (2005) as Senior Editor, The Mute’s Soliloquy, a memoir by Pamoedya Ananta Toer (1999) as Translator and Editor, Illuminations: The Writing Traditions of Indonesia (1996) as Co-Editor |
John H. McGlynn (who also uses the pen name Willem Samuels; born October 14, 1952, in Cazenovia, Wisconsin) is an American editor and translator. [1]
In 1987, along with four Indonesian writers, Goenawan Mohamad, Sapardi Djoko Damono, Umar Kayam, and Subagio Sastrowardoyo, he founded the Lontar Foundation with the aim of promoting Indonesian literature and culture to the international world through the translation of Indonesian literature. [2] According to Goenawan Mohamad, "John works single-mindedly for our purpose: to bring Indonesian literary expressions to the world." [3]
McGlynn first visited Indonesia in 1976 on a United States Department of Education scholarship to attend an advanced Indonesian language program at the Indonesian Teachers College in Malang. [4] He then attended the University of Indonesia for a year, began working as a translator, then later returned to the United States to earn a master's degree in Indonesian Literature at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. [5]
McGlynn has translated or edited over 100 works, including translations of several of works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer which he published using his pen name, Willem Samuels, including The Mute's Soliloquy. [6] According to Tempo (Indonesian magazine), "Over the years, McGlynn worked to produce English translations of Indonesia's top literary works, collaborating with a diverse group of translators, such as Harry Aveling, an authority on Indonesian and Malay literature." [7]
He is the Indonesian country editor for Manoa , a literary journal published by the University of Hawaii, and has served as guest editor for Words Without Borders. He is a member of the International Commission of the Indonesian Publishers Association (IKAPI), PEN International-New York, and the Association for Asian Studies. He is also a trustee of AMINEF, the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation, which oversees the Fulbright and Humphrey scholarship programs in Indonesia. [1]
Sapardi Djoko Damono was an Indonesian poet known for lyrical poems, and who was widely regarded as the pioneer of lyrical poetry in Indonesia. He died in South Tangerang, Banten on 19 July 2020 after a long illness.
Pramoedya Ananta Toer, also nicknamed Pram, was an Indonesian novelist and writer. His works span the colonial period under Dutch rule, Indonesia's struggle for independence, its occupation by Japan during the Second World War, as well as the post-colonial authoritarian regimes of Sukarno and Suharto, and are infused with personal and national history.
Goenawan Mohamad is an Indonesian poet, essayist, playwright and editor. He is the founder and editor of the Indonesian magazine Tempo. Mohamad is a vocal critic of the Indonesian government, and his magazine was periodically shut down due to its criticisms.
Subagio Sastrowardoyo was an Indonesian poet, short-story writer, essayist and literary critic. Born in Madiun, East Java, the Dutch East Indies, he studied at Gadjah Mada University, Cornell University and in 1963 graduated with an MA from Yale University. His debut as a writer came early with the publication of Simphoni (Symphony), a collection of poems, in 1957. The collection has been described as "cynical, untamed poetry, shocking sometimes". Simphoni was followed by several attempts at short story writing, including the publication Kedjananan di Sumbing, before Subagio settled on poetry as his main creative outlet. Following an extended stay in the United States he published a collection of poems entitled Saldju (Snow) in 1966. The poems in this collection deal with questions of life and death, and of the need for "something to hold on to in an existence threatened on all sides", and have been described as altogether more restrained than those in his earlier work. Additional works published since 1966 include Daerab Perbatasan (1970), Keroncong Motinggo (1975), Buku Harian (Diary), Hari dan Hara (1979)Simphoni Dua (1990), and several books of literary criticism. Subagio's collected poems have been published as Dan Kematian Makin Akrab (1995).
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The Lontar Foundation, a not-for-profit organization based in Jakarta, Indonesia, was founded in 1987 by four Indonesian writers: Goenawan Mohamad, Sapardi Djoko Damono, Umar Kayam, and Subagio Sastrowardoyo, and the American translator John H. McGlynn.
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Andries Teeuw, better known as A. Teeuw in scholarly circles and Hans Teeuw to his friends, was a Dutch critic of Indonesian literature.
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