Asian Literary Forum (ALF) 2025

The LIKHAAN: UP Institute of Creative Writing, together with the UP Center for International Studies, will hold its annual Asian Literary Forum (ALF) this March. The ALF was conceived as a meaningful platform to bridge the gap between Filipino literature and those of our neighbors — inviting a Filipino audience to engage, interact, and learn about the state of contemporary literature in selected Asian countries so that we can adapt and build solidarity on our people’s shared struggles and aspirations amid a rapidly globalizing world.
The forum will feature respected and renowned literary scholars to deliver lectures on issues regarding the contemporary literatures in the different genres and in the major literary languages from their respective countries

WHEN: March 24, 2025, 2:00 PM-5:00 PM
WHERE: LIKHAAN: University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing

About the Speakers
Eka Kurniawan was born in Tasikmalaya, Indonesia, in 1975. He graduated from Faculty of Philosophy, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, with an advanced essay on Pramoedya Ananta Toer and socialist realism literature that later published as a book in 1999. He published his first novel Beauty is a Wound in 2002, followed by Man Tiger in 2004 and Vengeance is Mine All Others Pay Cash (2014). His latest work is Dog Meows, Cat Barks will be published in English translation in 2026. In addition to fiction works, he writes literary essays and political opinions in local and foreign media outlets. He received the Prince Claus Award in 2018. Now he lives in Jakarta.

Conchitina Cruz is Professor at the Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of the Philippines Diliman. She received her PhD in English from State University of New York (SUNY) Albany. She is the author of the poetry books Dark Hours, elsewhere held and lingered, There is no emergency, and Modus.

Dr. Max Lane is the translator of Indonesian literary works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer (The Buru Quartet) and by the poet-playwright Rendra. He is author of Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and After Suharto (2008), Catastrophe in Indonesia (2010), Decentralization and Its Discontents: An Essay on Class, Political Agency and National Perspective in Indonesian Politics (2014), Introduction to the Politics of the Indonesian Union Movement (2019), Indonesia Out of Exile: How Pramoedya’s Buru Quartet Killed a Dictatorship (2023), Indonesia and Not: Anecdotes Scattered (2023) and Saudara Berdiri di Pihak Yang Mana: Politik Seni Subversif Rendra (2024).

He is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. In his 50 year engagement with Indonesia and Southeast Asia, he has been a diplomat, writer, academic and activist, an experience which has confronted him with the realities of a colonised world.

Source: Likhaan: University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing Facebook