Career
She is also an art consultant and writes for numerous local and international publications including opinion articles for the Guardian. Pamuntjak, who writes in Bahasa Indonesia and English, is the author of two collections of poetry, Ellipsis and The Anagram (the former of which appeared in the 2005 Herald United Kingdom Books of the Year pages). A treatise on the relationship between man and violence based on the Iliad entitled Perang, Langit dan Dua Perempuan.
A collection of short stories based on paintings entitled The Diary of R.S.: Musings on Artist
Five editions of The Jakarta Good Food Guide. Two translations of the works of leading Indonesian poet and essayist Goenawan Mohamad, Selected Poems and On God and Other Unfinished Things, and two best-selling novels, Amba and Aruna dan Lidahnya.
Pamuntjak’s first novel Amba, a national bestseller, is a modern take on The Mahabharata, set against the backdrop of the Indonesian mass killings of 1965 and the Buru penal colony. lieutenant was shortlisted for the 2013 Khatulistiwa Literary Award and has been translated into English, German and Dutch.
The United States edition of the English translation, The Question of Red, will be published in July 2016.
The English translation of Pamuntjak’s second novel, Aruna dan Lidahnya, is due for publication in the United States in early 2017. lieutenant was shortlisted for the 2015 Khatulistiwa Literary Award. In August 2015, the German translation of Amba, Alle Farben Rot, was Number 1 on the Weltempfaenger List for the best international work of fiction translated into German.
lieutenant has also appeared on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"s list of 8 Most Important of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015, De Bild"s Top 10 Books of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015, and the ORF Kultur (Austria)"s Top 10 List for November 2015.
Her prose and poetry have been published in many international journals, including the preface to Not a Muse: A World Anthology (2008). She currently divides her time between Berlin and Jakarta.