Political poetry from Indonesian poet Zubaidah Djohar, translated into English by Heather Curnow.

Written out of the violence and repression of Indonesia’s New Order period, these poems centre the experiences of women whose ordinary acts—cooking, sheltering, waiting, mourning—become entangled with resistance. Soldiers enter villages, husbands disappear into forests, bodies are interrogated and domestic objects acquire political histories.

Djohar’s language is deliberately spare and direct, often allowing the brutality of what is being described to sit almost naked on the page. The collection is particularly attentive to women as witnesses, survivors and participants rather than peripheral figures in political history. Poems such as “Chimneys that Speak” and “Is This Your Peace, Sir?” turn testimony into accusation, preserving experiences that authoritarian power would rather leave undocumented. A small, unusual bilingual-cross-cultural publication, and this copy is signed by Djohar.

Komodo Books, Depok, Indonesia, 2014. First edition / first printing. Hardcover with illustrated boards. Translated by Heather Curnow; cover illustration by Dewi Candraningroem. Signed by Zubaidah Djohar on the title page. Light shelf wear and minor rubbing to boards, with slight wear at spine ends and corners. Internally clean and firmly bound. Very good condition.