Semarang State University

My collaboration with Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) took the form of a public lecture focusing on the Indonesian diaspora in Europe. The lecture explored the lived realities of migration beyond statistics and abstractions, addressing cultural displacement, adaptation, and the long process of building a meaningful life far from one’s country of origin.

I shared my personal trajectory as an Indonesian who has lived in Europe for many years, speaking candidly about cultural shock, climate, language, and the subtle negotiations required to inhabit more than one cultural system at once. The discussion extended to my educational path abroad and the daily discipline of balancing multiple roles: academic life, creative work, family responsibilities, and sustained involvement in social and humanitarian activities. Among these were my roles as treasurer of the parents’ association at École Blankedelle and as secretary-treasurer at ONE (Office de la Naissance et de l’Enfance) Auderghem. These experiences illustrated how integration is not only intellectual but also civic and communal.

What made the session particularly engaging was the convergence of my different identities: writer, translator, poet, academic, and theatre practitioner. For the students, this combination sparked intense curiosity about how one can not merely survive abroad but remain productive, visible, and relevant in both Indonesia and Belgium. The lecture became a space to reflect on resilience, discipline, and the ethics of cultural work across borders.

Given that many participants were students from the French Literature Education program, questions naturally gravitated toward my translation of Les Fleurs du Mal (Bunga-Bunga Iblis). Discussions on translation choices, poetic fidelity, and cultural transfer dominated the Q&A session, transforming the lecture into a lively intellectual exchange. Although the students gathered in an auditorium while I spoke from a Zoom room abroad, the atmosphere remained warm, dynamic, and intensely participatory, underscoring how distance dissolves when curiosity and dialogue take the lead.