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The Lontar Anthology of Indonesian Poetry presents a wide-ranging selection of twentieth-century poetry, more than 325 poems by more than 180 authors, available for the first time in English translation. In Indonesia poetry enjoys a status far and above all other genres. Popular with the public in a way that's unimaginable in the West, poetry is accessible through newspapers, magazines, radio, television, films and poetry readings. Major historical issues are articulated and negotiated through poetry, such as decolonization and the emergence of national consciousness, ethnic and gendered identities, and the environmental and social effects of modernization. This anthology offers a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Indonesia as seen through the lens of its poetry.