Meet the Translator: Interview with Khairani Barokka (Indonesian to English)

‘Pic description: Black and white photo of an Indonesian woman with short hair, earrings, and a patterned dress, lying down on her front, pen in hand, ready to write. Pic credit: Derrick Kakembo.’

Following on from my previous blog post which was my book review on The Book of Jakarta: A City in Short Fiction. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to find out more about not only the translating process but also more about one of the 10 translators of The Book of Jakarta. So today’s post is going to be an Interview with translator Khairani Barokka.

First, could you please introduce yourself.

I’m Khairani Barokka, a Minang-Javanese writer, artist, and translator in London. I’m from Jakarta and am an Indonesian citizen. I work as Research Fellow and Researcher-in-Residence at University of the Arts London’s Decolonising Arts Institute, and as Associate Artist at the National Centre for Writing in Norwich.

What was your inspiration for pursuing a career in translation? And how did you get started?

Growing up bilingual in English and Indonesian, and with multiple Indonesian languages around me, translating always seemed natural, useful, and often fun. I took a paid job at TEMPO English, part of Indonesia’s then largest newsmag, at around 12 or 13. So I started doing it professionally quite young.

Why did you want to translate a short story for The Book of Jakarta?

This was an easy decision; I’ve known editors Maesy Ang and Teddy W. Kusuma for a long time, admire their work, and love that they have a bookshop not far from my neighborhood in Jakarta. Special thanks to Tiffany Tsao for alerting me to the opportunity. I read Hanna Fransisca’s ‘Aroma Terasi’ and could not stop laughing in public; it was a joy to translate.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a translator?

Begin, network, read widely, have a code of ethics, always be ready to question your assumptions.

What authors/translators do you like to read? And what five books do you feel have really shaped and inspired you as a translator and a person?

These seem like impossible questions to answer, there are so many incredible authors and books out there, and that have shaped me. I try to read from as large a pool as possible. Today’s answer as to the five books: My Year of Meat by Ruth L. Ozeki, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, and (apologies for cheating!) all the Indonesian storybooks I grew up with, from books with the character Lupus to all the many manga translated into Indonesian I read.

What books are you excited about or working on now?

I’m developing some book projects, and very excited about releasing my next poetry book, Ultimatum Orangutan, which includes a few poems from Indonesian translations, on March 25.

Are there any Indonesian books that you would love to translate in the future?

So many! I’d love to translate plenty of books from Jakarta and West Sumatra, and children’s stories.

When it comes to the promotion of the books that you have translated how involved are you?

It depends on my schedule, but I try to spread the word about books I’m involved in as much as possible.

Has the perception of Indonesian Literature in translation changed during the time you have worked as a translator?

I think the question that follows is perception by whom; I think that over the past twenty years, and especially recently, there is a wider scope of what gets translated from Indonesian into other languages, especially an increase in writing by women. I think I’d love for people within Indonesia to discover literature in languages in other than their own; there are over 700 languages in the archipelago, after all. And for there to be more languages native to Indonesia translated into non-Indonesian languages.

Finally, what are you currently reading.

Where the Wild Ladies Are by Matsuda Aoko, translated by Polly Barton; Songs We Learn from Trees: An Anthology of Ethiopian Amharic Poetry, edited by Chris Beckett and Alemu Tebeje; Fred D’Aguiar’s Letters to America.

Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview and I cannot wait to read more of your translations in the future.

(Photo of the book is my own and the credits for photo of Khairani Barokka are listed below photo above so please do not copy/take without permission first).