Rio Johan visits Exeter
Exeter UNESCO City of Literature continues to highlight our global connections to a network of worldwide writers this week as we recently hosted Indonesian writer Rio Johan for a two part UK City of Literature tour between Exeter and Manchester.
About Rio
Rio Johan is one of Indonesia’s most idiosyncratic contemporary writers.
His fiction fuses absurd premises with sharp satire, moving between the grotesque and the mischievous. His debut short story collection, Aksara Amanunna (Alphabet of Amanunna, 2014), won Tempo’s Best Prose Fiction Award. His novel, Ibu Susu (Mother’s Milk, 2017) — with the playful theme of milk flooding from the sky — received the Khatulistiwa Literary Award for Best First/Second Book.
Rio also translates French literature into Indonesian and is the official translator for several of Sally Rooney’s novels into Indonesian. He currently lives in Paris.
Rio Johan with the Exeter UNESCO City of Literature team.
I had no idea what Exeter was like when I was offered a visit as part of the UNESCO City of Literature collaboration between Jakarta and, of course, Exeter—well, I had a picture, actually, of a quiet small town in a remote part of England, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The first morning I began exploring the city, I was immediately struck by the sight of dozens, maybe hundreds, of youths milling about the streets. It was a vibrant, young city, and understandable so, as it’s a university city. Then I got to meet Anna, Jen, and Jordan, the people behind Exeter City of Literature at their headquarters at Exeter Phoenix and then, for three days I was accompanied through the city streets and introduced to various people who then made me understand more about this city.
Through Caroline Walter, Head of Heritage Collections at University of Exeter, who has been so kind and patient in showing me the archives of Exeter University Library I learned bits and pieces about the history of the city, looking at maps of the city from the Norman era to the present day, and she even showed us a peculiar type of map: the “strip map.” Like a little kid who has just discovered a strange, unfamiliar, but fun toy, I was stunned by this strip map, and decided to ask Caroline to show me every strip map she had, and then I looked at them, examined them, photographed their details, and I told myself that one day, I’d write a whimsical tale about these “strip maps.” I had to.
Jen’s explanation of Exeter’s deep literary tradition impressed me: it turns out many famous authors have lived or left their mark in this city, Agatha Christie and Bram Stoker among them, and it remains a favourite place for many writers today. She also told me how this city, previously unheard-of to me, played a role in the founding of Penguin Random House, the ever-present publisher. We visited the book vending machine installed at the train station to mark 90 years of Penguin and I bought Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo to read on the train to Manchester.
I was told a little about the life of Charles Causley, a poet who once lived nearby just across the River Tamar and whose archive is held at the University of Exeter. Caroline showed me his diaries in the archives; I read one of his touching poems.
I was introduced to Richard Mansell, a literary translator at the university, and we talked about the possibilities of getting my works translated and published in the UK, and he gave me some suggestions and contacts I may be able to use; I do hope to see my books in Exeter’s bookshops one day. Additionally, I also had the opportunity to visit the Devon and Exeter Institution where the librarian, Sonia Llewellyn, had taken the time to find some old books in the collection about Sumatra where I grew up.
I also chose to do a little reading about the Exeter Book, a historic codex of poetic riddles (or rather, poems in the form of riddles), and I was amused by how funny, silly, and yet charming they were. There are hundreds of riddles in the book and some of them are unsolved! I will keep the memories of this book, who knows, it might become an idea for another silly tale in the future.
Lastly, I was invited by Exeter City of Literature’s Events Producer, Luke, to watch ‘Humbug!’ a Christmas play taking place in one of the city’s beautiful historic buildings, St Nicholas Priory. We laughed throughout the brilliant performance, and I ended my trip to this city with a warm embrace of new memories and knowledge of a new place I hope to visit again someday, whether in a written story or in real life.
