Since Stand was founded in 1952, the journal has always included translations, but this is the first time that we are publishing writing from Indonesia. We are pleased and excited to be correcting such a large oversight. We hope that through the publication of Indonesian poetry and short stories in this issue of Stand, literary work from the fourth most populous country in the world will be able to find a larger audience in the UK and other parts of the English-speaking world. Stand is read from Leeds to Australia to California, so we hope our readers enjoy this opportunity to make new discoveries.

Stand has always been concerned to find and reflect words and worlds outside its Anglophone base. In 1952 the very first issue of the magazine included translations of poems from Spanish and from French. Its first twelve issues up to 1957 contained translations from Russian. Over the decades Stand has published poems and stories which have provided otherwise unobtainable insights into experiences of conflict and violence, repression and oppression, and responses to cruelty.

In the following pages we provide a brief English-language snapshot of the rich diversity of contemporary Indonesian literature through the work of nine writers. They come from diverse regions of the country and offer us through their poems and short stories very different ways of writing and living in the contemporary world. As editors, we have been fascinated and humbled to see how these writers stand up for the individual and cherish their ...