Sutardji Calzoum Bachri Explained

Sutardji Calzoum Bachri, known as Tardji,^[1] (born 1941 in Rengat, Riau) is a well-known Indonesian poet. A native Malay speaker, he successfully launched a credo of 'freeing words of their meanings'.^{[2] [3]}

He was nicknamed the "bottle poet" for a preference, early in his career, for accompanying readings of his work with bottles of alcohol.^[1] He was also known once as 'The President of Indonesian Poets'^{[1] [4]} His style of reading has been compared to the incantation-like quality of the old Indonesian dukun, chants stemming from Indonesian pre-Islamic shamanistic practice, still used today.^[5]

The style of Tardji's poetry has been described as that of a mantra.^[2] He has been quoted as saying that the mantra is the true use of words.

External links

• Profile and works at the 2004 Poetry Africa Festival website

Notes and References

1. News: Leon . Agusta . The Jakarta Post. 24 December 2007 . Sutardji Calzoum Bachri: from bottle-poet to Sufism .
2. Book: Babel or behemoth: language trends in Asia . Jennifer Lindsay . 52 . NUS . 2003 . 978-981-04-9075-1 .
3. Book: Hill, Hal . University of Hawaii Press . 1994 . Indonesia's new order: the dynamics of socio-economic transformation . 246 . 978-0-8248-1660-5 .
4. News: Medy Loekito: silent poetry, lonely poetry . 30 October 2009 . The Jakarta Post. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101029005102/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/30/medy-loekito-silent-poetry-lonely-poetry.html . 29 October 2010 .
5. Muhammad Haji Salleh . 10.1080/03062849108729752 . Indonesia and the Malay World . 19 . 54 . March 1991. 3–18 . Oral elements in contemporary Indonesian poetry .