Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 07/06/2008 11:37 AM | Headlines
Celebratory spirit was in the air as some 90 Indonesian child writers broke a silence on Saturday, voicing their demands and marking a new page in the book industry's history.
Innocently creative, the seven to 13 years old child authors expressed their hopes during the first Child Writers Conference held here, calling on parents, teachers and the government to recognize and appreciate their talents, as well as to support their activities.
The children also launched the Indonesian Child Writers organization at the conference, which was initiated by local book publisher Mizan.
"We are asking adults to not underestimate our talents," nine-year-old Rara read out, representing her friends.
The child authors also urged the government to scrap book taxes, so that books could be more affordable for everyone.
As for publishers, "Please offer us a better royalty," Rara said, to laughter and cheers from the audience.
The young writers demanded that teachers and parents provide them with the freedom to write and asked them to avoid the use of force in writing activities.
"Never ask us to write stories with lame topics like 'my family', 'my holiday experience' or 'my environment' ... that's so boring. Teachers should allow us to explore our own ideas," famous young writer Sri Izzati said during a brainstorming session at the conference.
Another famous young writer, Abdurrahman Faiz, said teachers often set time limits, which causes children to perceive writing as a pressured, rather than enjoyable, activity.
"In many cases, teachers have reduced writing activities to assignments, telling us to write a story in only 2 hours. That surely kills our creativity," said Faiz, who has written several best sellers.
The writers also reminded their parents not to be too ambitious in trying to make their children successful authors.
Many of the writers said they often felt disappointed when editors cut their words or when finding illustrations of their books were far different from what they had imagined.
Fan Fan F. Darmawan of Mizan said while other publishers might be skeptical about child writer projects, he had proven that supporting child writers was a promising business.
According to Mizan, it has published 33 books written by child authors with each title selling up to 5,000 copies on average.
Izzati's masterpiece Two of me, for example, has reached sales of 12,000 copies since its first printing in 2006. Meanwhile, Faiz has booked 11,000 copies in sales, one year after he launched his book titled Untuk bunda untuk dunia (To mother, to the world). Writer Ramya has sold 1,000 copies of her book titled My piano, my best friend, only one month after it was launched.
Fan Fan said several campaigns to other cities across the country would follow the conference.
"In December, a summit meeting will be held to officially launch this movement," he said.
Working with his colleagues in Mizan, Fan Fan aimed to promote child writers and help them win recognition. He called on other publishers to support children's creativity by publishing their stories.
Celebratory spirit was in the air as some 90 Indonesian child writers broke a silence on Saturday, voicing their demands and marking a new page in the book industry's history.
Innocently creative, the seven to 13 years old child authors expressed their hopes during the first Child Writers Conference held here, calling on parents, teachers and the government to recognize and appreciate their talents, as well as to support their activities.
The children also launched the Indonesian Child Writers organization at the conference, which was initiated by local book publisher Mizan.
"We are asking adults to not underestimate our talents," nine-year-old Rara read out, representing her friends.
The child authors also urged the government to scrap book taxes, so that books could be more affordable for everyone.
As for publishers, "Please offer us a better royalty," Rara said, to laughter and cheers from the audience.
The young writers demanded that teachers and parents provide them with the freedom to write and asked them to avoid the use of force in writing activities.
"Never ask us to write stories with lame topics like 'my family', 'my holiday experience' or 'my environment' ... that's so boring. Teachers should allow us to explore our own ideas," famous young writer Sri Izzati said during a brainstorming session at the conference.
Another famous young writer, Abdurrahman Faiz, said teachers often set time limits, which causes children to perceive writing as a pressured, rather than enjoyable, activity.
"In many cases, teachers have reduced writing activities to assignments, telling us to write a story in only 2 hours. That surely kills our creativity," said Faiz, who has written several best sellers.
The writers also reminded their parents not to be too ambitious in trying to make their children successful authors.
Many of the writers said they often felt disappointed when editors cut their words or when finding illustrations of their books were far different from what they had imagined.
Fan Fan F. Darmawan of Mizan said while other publishers might be skeptical about child writer projects, he had proven that supporting child writers was a promising business.
According to Mizan, it has published 33 books written by child authors with each title selling up to 5,000 copies on average.
Izzati's masterpiece Two of me, for example, has reached sales of 12,000 copies since its first printing in 2006. Meanwhile, Faiz has booked 11,000 copies in sales, one year after he launched his book titled Untuk bunda untuk dunia (To mother, to the world). Writer Ramya has sold 1,000 copies of her book titled My piano, my best friend, only one month after it was launched.
Fan Fan said several campaigns to other cities across the country would follow the conference.
"In December, a summit meeting will be held to officially launch this movement," he said.
Working with his colleagues in Mizan, Fan Fan aimed to promote child writers and help them win recognition. He called on other publishers to support children's creativity by publishing their stories.