Ayu Utami, 40
Birthplace: Bogor, Indonesia
Books: Saman (1998), Larung (2002), Si Parasit Lajang (2003), Susila's Trial (2008)
Only Saman is available here at Select Books for $19

For Ayu, writing is a totally political affair. The journalist, who writes in Bahasa Indonesia, is going to speak on the role of writers in their community when she is in Singapore.

The Jakarta-based writer and civil rights activist says: 'For me, an author should voice the unvoiced, to represent the under-represented. She should not stand with the mainstream or with society.'

She should know. Besides writing political columns in newspapers and magazines, she is well-known for her novel Saman (1998), a frank discussion about female sexuality, a brave move in Muslim Indonesia. The book was awarded the Best Novel from the arts council of Jakarta that year and went on to sell more than 100,000 copies. She then went on to write its sequel, Larung.

She came to Singapore in 2004 for TheatreWorks' The Flying Circus Project, an international art exchange camp. A year later, she was here for the Singapore Writers Festival and took part in a panel discussion exploring sexuality, love and desire in contemporary Asian writing.

This year, she published Pengadilan Susila (Susila's Trial), a play that speaks out against an anti- pornography Bill in the Indonesian House of Representatives.

Ayu, an independent, free-spirited woman, makes sure her personal life mirrors her political views. She lives with her boyfriend of nine years in an eco-friendly house where there is no air-con and where they compost their kitchen waste.

On cohabitation, she declares: 'To stay unmarried is my political choice. I aim to free my fellow women from the burden of marital obligation, the need to be the wife of someone, and to free women from the burden of virginity.'

» You can meet Ayu Utami at a lunch session at the Viet Lang Restaurant at The Arts House on Nov 30 at noon. At 3.30pm, she will be at a meet-the-author session at The Play Den.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 6, 2008.