“Kereta Semar Lembu” by Zaki Yamani won Jakarta Arts Council’s 2021 Novel Contest

Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ) just announced the winners of the 2021 Novel Competition. The competition was started in March 2021 and the judging was done from the end of 2021 until the beginning of 2022. DKJ 2021 Novel Contest received 327 novel manuscript submissions from 448 writers from 28 provinces, with 4 writers from overseas.

The DKJ Literature Committee as the supervisor of the contest chose 3 judges, namely Bagus Takwin, Manneke Budiman and Ziggy Zesyazeovienazabriskie. The three judges have chosen three winners and six manuscripts that attracted their attention and deserved to be published.

The six manuscripts are “Mustika Zakar Celeng” by Adia Puja Pradana, “Lauk Daun” by Hartari, “Gagarasuk dan Dunia Roh Seni” by Bernardin Andara, “Nona Jepun” by Sinta Yudisia, “Racun Puan” by Ni Nyoman Ayu Suciartini and “Rapai dan Jazz”  by Mellyan.

According to the judges, all the novels that won have demonstrated their ability to tell stories, explore written forms and develop ideas. The winning novels are expected to represent the spirit of the era of the Indonesian literary world.

Zaky Yamani with his novel titled “Kereta Semar Lembu” won first place. “Berat” by Amalina Yunus and “Lantak La (Dramaturgi Anonim-Anonim)” by Beri Hanna (Syawal Pebrian) won second and third place. 

One of the judges, Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie explained that the winning novel features a flexible narrative. It combines various events from both the supernatural and real worlds, myth and history, rational and irrational things, different time settings with its various characters.

Author Zaky Yamani is deemed successful in integrating the dimensions of space and time and the diverse world into the novel’s story universe. 

“'Kereta Semar Lembu' has a unique idea and was developed into a story with unusual characters, plots and points of view and is rich in details. This novel shows the paradoxes, ambivalence and contradictions that exist in Indonesian wisdom,” said Ziggy.

“Berat” by Amalia Yunus that won second place presents its originality as it offers fresh forms and themes. Manneke Budiman said it was chosen as the second winner as it presents something unique. 

“The narrator in this script is an active character in the story, but he speaks directly to the main character by using the second person singular pronoun for the character. Therefore, from the very beginning, an unusual dialogue was developed between the two, considering the things outside the story as well as things inside the story,” said Manneke.