Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas
Writer and Poet in Jakarta, Indonesia
Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas was born in Jakarta, 19 August 1979. She studied English Literature in Universitas Indonesia, Depok (2003) and received her masters in The Gothic Imagination from University of Stirling, Scotland (2005).
She is one of the founders of Komunitas BungaMatahari, a mailing list-based Indonesian poetry community that have embraced many poetry enthusiasts with its catchphrase “semua bisa berpuisi” or, roughly translated, “poetry for all”. She is also involved in Selatan, an online literary journal in Bahasa Indonesia, and PaviliunPuisi, a monthly open mic event that is open to poets, poetry communities and artists to showcase their works to an open-minded audience in a casual setting.
Her poetry collections are Kota Ini Kembang Api and Non-Spesifik, both published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama. She also has a column, From Our Breakfast Table, on The Murmur House. She plans to write some more, particularly on the subjects of memory and place. She is also interested in exploring themes of day-to-day life, motherhood, parenting, mental illness and personal madness through writing in collaboration with other art forms, such as film, music, drawing, painting and dancing.
She currently resides in Jakarta, with her husband and daughter. Anya, which is how people call her, may be reached via email g.c.rompas at gmail dot com.