Norman Erikson Pasaribu on Sergius Seeks Bacchus - with Tiffany Tsao

Norman Erikson Pasaribu is one of Indonesia’s most vital and irresistible new writers, and we are thrilled to host him to discuss his poetry collection Sergius Seeks Bacchus. 

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Norman will be in conversation with author Tiffany Tsao, the translator of this remarkable collection.

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Norman Erikson Pasaribu is a poet distinguished by his tender, tragicomic voice. Drawing on the experiences of fellow members of the queer community and especially on the poet’s life as a writer of Bataknese descent and Christian background, the collection furnishes readers with an alternative gospel, a book of bittersweet good news pieced together from the poet’s encounters with ridicule, persecution, loneliness, and also happiness.

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Praise

‘Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s writing is a gift of great beauty. His is a new and magical voice emerging in literature, yet one almost preternaturally wise, profoundly celebratory of the history and possibility of poetry. His is a formidable talent.’ – Christos Tsiolkas

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‘Norman Erikson Pasaribu spares nothing and nobody, least of all himself, in this gleefully dark, clever, beautiful book. These poems will take you into the woods of the world and make you ache.’ – Omar Sakr.

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About the Author

Norman Erikson Pasaribu was born in Jakarta in 1990. His debut poetry collection Sergius Mencari Bacchus (Sergius Seeks Bacchus) won the 2015 Jakarta Arts Council Poetry Competition and was a finalist for the 2016 Khatulistiwa Literary Award for Poetry. 

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In 2017, he won the Young Author Award from the Southeast Asia Literary Council and was a RMIT’s Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange (WrICE) fellow.