Pithe Meets: Putu Juli Sastrawan
In an island where changes happen every so often in touristy spots, the act of remembering is essential. We decided to meet Juli Sastrawan, a writer and co-founder of Penerbit Partikular. Penerbit Partikular, nestled in the heart of Denpasar’s Chinatown is a publishing house committed to publishing books from the global south and creating, sustaining a space where people can learn from each other. We visited him there, a little stall at the corner of a newly renovated building right behind Pasar Badung.
What book would you recommend to read about Bali?
I think a book that offers a vivid and insightful view of Bali is Mandi Api by Gde Aryantha Soethama. This short story collection won the prestigious Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa literary award in 2006, and for good reason. Aryantha masterfully captures the tensions between tradition and modernity, especially how adat, customary law and practices, continue to shape and challenge everyday life in Bali.
What makes Mandi Api particularly accessible is its format, a series of short stories that are grounded in the lived experiences of ordinary Balinese people. Through fiction, readers are introduced to ethical dilemmas, social taboos, generational conflicts, and spiritual practices that define Balinese society. Rather than exoticizing Bali, the book invites us to see the island not just as a tourist destination but as a place full of complexity, contradiction, and ongoing negotiation between the past and present.
Ya, I think this book is an excellent and thought-provoking place to start.
What are you reading these days?
Currently I am reading fiction works related to 1965. Last year I made a visit to Kyoto, doing writing residency at the Center for Southeast Asian studies. I learned how survivors of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki tell their stories through fiction. In Japan, literary works that are related to this tragedy are called Sastra Bom Atom/ Atomic bomb literature genbaku bungaku 原爆文学. For the case of Indonesia, I read fiction that is related to the tragedy in 1965 or set in 1965. In between times, I also read new manga or anthologies.
How did you become a writer?
I would say that I’m a writer raised by the community. I studied English Literature for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. I started writing a blog back in high school, though at the time, I never thought of writing as a possible career. That perspective changed when I entered university and joined a sastra (literary) community. I began writing more consistently and met people who were actually making a living from writing. That’s when it struck me: “Oh, apparently, you can write for a living!” After I graduated, I published my first book and became more actively involved in the literary community. It was through this network and collective spirit that I found my path as a writer.
What forces you to establish Penerbit Partikular?
Our main drive was to help nurture an ecosystem of critical thinking. That’s why our workplace is not just a space for publishing books, but also a hub for discussions, reading groups, and exchange of ideas.
Printing books is not our sole purpose. What we really aim to do is create and sustain a space where people can learn from one another, think critically, and engage in meaningful dialogue. In doing so, we hope to cultivate a culture where ideas can flourish and where collective learning becomes a foundation for a more thoughtful and compassionate society.
We also believe that writing should not be exclusive, anyone can write and share their perspective. By encouraging this openness, we carry the hope that future generations will grow up with not only the tools to question the world around them but also the courage to imagine and shape a brighter future together.
So how has the dynamic between Penerbit Partikular and the surrounding community so far?
From the very beginning, friends have always been supporting us. For example, the speakers from our early events are our friends. They also spread the news about our programs and ask their friends to come and join us. They are excited, we are all excited. That made us happy to organise the events too.
What is the upcoming book you are going to publish?
Soon we are publishing Sinema Dunia Ketiga, cinemas in the global south, especially in Indonesia.
What kind of works are published by Penerbit Partikular?
We only publish what we like—and we are very particular with what we want to publish. So the works that we publish are travel journals, history, and gastronomy works. Recently we published Kisah Kasih Dari Dapur from Wilda Yanti Salim, which sees politics and social conditions through food and kitchen.
What is this year’s main focus for Penerbit Partikular?
This year’s main focus for Penerbit Partikular is Membaca Denpasar dari Dekat Sekali, a program that invites us to see and read Denpasar together, through its history, food, culture, and everyday life. We are organizing workshops and intensive classes that delve deeper into these aspects, something we haven’t done in previous programs.
However, Membaca Denpasar dari Dekat Sekali is just one of the many programs running at Partikular this year. Alongside it, we continue to host regular discussions, book clubs, workshops, and have recently launched the Manga Club, where we explore storytelling, art, and cultural themes through manga.
As for our upcoming publications, we have three exciting books in the works. The first is Hikayat Botani, a travel journal that invites readers to experience places through the birds and trees found there. The second is Mengingat Rasa yang Pernah Terlupakan, which revisits the edible plants people used to forage, a practice now in decline as such plants become harder to find. The third is Sinema Dunia Ketiga, a reflection on Third World Cinema, with a special focus on the cinemas of the Global South, especially Indonesia, exploring film as a space for resistance, memory, and imagination.
Last one, personally speaking, what is to notice when we are reading?
When we read, I think it's important to first notice who is speaking and what is being said. Try to ask: whose voice is this? From what position is the writer speaking? What are they trying to convey, and perhaps, what are they trying to hide?
By paying attention to these elements, we begin to understand the writer’s intention, not just the content of the text, but also the perspective and context behind it. Reading, then, becomes more than just absorbing information but also for me it becomes a dialogue.
And after reading, we should also turn the lens toward ourselves: what is our position in relation to the text? How does it challenge or affirm what we believe or know? What can we learn or unlearn from it? In this way, reading becomes a process of reflection, one that helps us grow not only intellectually, but also emotionally and ethically. Ya, I think that's it. But for some books, especially picture books, I just enjoy it as it is.
