Helvy Tiana Rosa
Helvy Tiana Rosa
is widely recognized for her works in Indonesian literary and for her relentless efforts to encourage people, especially the young, poor and women, to write and publish their own works.
She was born in Medan, 2 April 1970 and had a bachelor and master degree of literature from Letters Faculty of University of Indonesia. She wrote more than 50 books, like Juragan Haji (The Juragan Hajj, 2014), Tanah Perempuan (The Woman’s Land, 2009), Segenggam Gumam (A Graps of Murmur, 2003), Mata Ketiga Cinta (The Third Eyes of Love, 2012) and Ketika Mas Gagah Pergi (When Mas Gagah Leaves, 1997). Some of her works were already translated in English, Japanese, Arabic, Swedish, German, French, and so forth. She was frequently invited to speak and read her works both in Indonesia and abroad, like Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Egypt, Turkey, and USA.
In 1990 she established Teater Bening as a director and script writer for the play performances. She was the former editor and the Chief Editor of Annida Magazine and later she involved intensively to help the emergence of writers from different social backgrounds in many cities in Indonesia and abroad through Forum Lingkar Pena (FLP) which was founded by her in 1997. Koran Tempo named her as Lokomotif Penulis Muda, A Locomotive of Young Writers, and The Straits Times named her as a pioneer for contemporary Indonesia Islamic literature (2003).
Helvy received more than 40 awards of national level in the field of writing and community empowerment, like A Literary Figure from Balai Pustaka and Majalah Sastra Horison (2013), A Figure of Books of IBF Award from IKAPI (2006), A Literary Figure of Nusantara Islamic Literary Festival (2016), A Literary Figure of Eramuslim Award (2006), Ummi Award (2004), Nova Award (2004), Kartini Award as one of The Most Inspiring Women in Indonesia (2009), and SheCAN! Award (2008). Her poem Fisabilillah was The Winner of Iqra Poetry Writing Competition of National Level in 1992, with the juries: HB Jassin, Sutardji Calzoum Bachri and Hamid Jabbar. Her short story Jaring-Jaring Merah was appointed as one of the best short stories of Sastra Horison Magazine in one decade between 1990 and 2000. Bukavu (LPPH 2008) was a nomination of Khatulistiwa Literary Award in 2008 and she became The Most Favourite Poet, and her work Mata Ketiga Cinta was chosen as as The Most Favourite Poetry Book of Indonesian’s Readers from Goodread Indonesia in 2012. She was arwaded an honour of Anugerah Karya Satya Lencana from the President of the Republic of Indonesia (2016).
She became a member of Jakarta Arts Council (2003-2006) and as the Founder and the Advisor of Bengkel Sastra Jakarta and also as a Member of The Southeast Asia Board of Literature (2006-2014). Now, she is a vice chair of Islamic Culture and Art Development Commision, The Council of Islamic Scholars of Indonesia, and a Member Social and Art Commision, The Council of Islamic Women Scholars of Indonesia.
Helvy then was listed in 33 Tokoh Sastra Paling Berpengaruh di Indonesia (33 People of The Most Influencial Literary Figures in Indonesia) written by Jamal D. Rahman et al (Gramedia, 2014). For nine years, from 2009 to 2017, She was also chosen out of 20 Indonesian people who were listed in 500 People of The Most Influencial Moslem Figures in the World, as research result conducted by Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, in Jordan with several high rank universities in the world.
Recently, she took charge as a producer for two movies based on her novel 'Ketika Mas Gagah Pergi." The first movie was released in 2016 under the same name. The sequel 'Duka Sedalam Cinta' is planned to be released in 2017.
“Kamilah ibu para yatim. Kamilah ibu para piatu. Kamilah ibu mereka yang menderita. Kami ibu dari semua jejak yang membekas di tanah ini!”
“Para ibu selalu mempunyai tempat untuk menampung duka, lalu mengecupnya dan bangkit.”
“Penderitaan yang sesungguhnya adalah ketika kamu kehilangan kepercayaan diri dan harapan. Ketika Allah tak ada dalam tujuan hidupmu ”
“Saya tak tahu, berapa waktu yang tersisa untuk saya. Satu jam, satu hari, satu tahun, sepuluh, lima puluh tahun lagi? Bisakah waktu yang semakin sedikit itu saya manfaatkan untuk memberi arti keberadaan saya sebagai hamba Allah di muka bumi ini? Bisakah cinta, kebajikan, maaf dan syukur selalu tumbuh dari dalam diri, saat saya menghirup udara dari Yang Maha?”
“Puisi bisa menjadi semacam magnet yang melekatkan kita pada seseorang, bahkan bila kita membencinya. Puisi yang kita tak tulis tak akan perah mati, bahkan bila kita mati.”
“Kita pun akan terus merangkai kata, menjelma kalimat kalimat yang kita tanam sepenuh cinta pada semesta. Semoga tumbuh menjadi berlian kecil di hati pembaca.”
“Sebab, apapun itu, bukankah hidup adalah untuk bergandeng tangan di jalan kebaikan dan membuat Allah tersenyum?”
“Ternyata saya tak pernah benar-benar kalah, meski mungkin belum sampai pada menang”
“Ketika kau masih bertemu pagidan putuskan diri untuk berdiri menghadapiberjuang dengan hati di jalan Illahimaka saat itukau telah mengakhiri haridengan satu lagi kemenangan sejati”
“Anak-anak saya kelak akan tumbuh di lingkungan tertentu. Bukankah seharusnya saya juga ambil bagian dalam mempersiapkan lingkungan yang akan tumbuh bersamanya?”
“Setiap hari cinta harus ditumbuhkan dengan berbagai cara. Cinta harus tumbuh menembus semua rintangan. Kuncup-kuncupnya tak boleh merekah semua seketika, untuk kemudian layu. Ranting dan pokoknya harus kuat menjulang. Cinta harus ditumbuhkan sepanjang usia dengan bunga-bunganya yang bertaburan di sepanjang jalan kesetiaan. Jalan yang ditapaki dengan riang di bumi dan semoga kelak mempertemukan kita kembali dengannya di surga”
“Cinta yang suci menempatkan ukuran fisik hanya di nomor 10 dari 10 kriteria”
“Kesuksesan sejati adalah ketika kita membuat orang lain bahagia.”