Lily Yulianti Farid

Biography

Lily Yulianti Farid was born and raised in Makassar, Indonesia. At present, she lives in Melbourne, Australia. She joined Hasanuddin University, Makassar as an agricultural engineering student, where she began her literary career with the campus’ publication, "Identitas". After graduation, she worked as a reporter of the "Kompas" daily from 1996 until 2000. In 2001, she went to the University of Melbourne for master's degree in "Gender and Development". In 2010 she registered for Ph.D. in "Gender and Media" from the same university which is slated to be finished in 2014. While in Melbourne she continued her journalistic writing by working as producer of "Radio Australia" online during 2001-2004. From 2004-2009, Ly worked as a radio program specialist/producer of "Radio Japan NHK", Tokyo. During this period, in 2006 she also joined as a columnist for "Nytid News Magazine", Norway and is still associated with them.

Lily began her career in writing and journalism, and is now engaged in a number of independent projects also, namely: "Panyingkul!" (www.panyingkul.com), which is Indonesia's first citizen journalism web site launched on July 1, 2006 in Makassar to promote citizen's active participation in media; "Makkunrai Project", which is a gender awareness program through literature and stage performance launched in March 2008. Her first short stories compilation, Makkunrai, consisting of eleven stories based on the themes of gender, corruption, polygamy and politics from female perspective, was also released during the launch of Makkunrai Project, along with the active participation of seasoned writer and artist Luna Vidya. In September 2008, Maiasaura appeared as Lily's second collection of stories published by Panyingkul!. The stories are based on journals, news and documents of Women’s NGOs, Human Rights Organizations’ Reports and various media outlet.

Lily later produced another short-story collection, entitled Family Room, which was translated into English, along with Makkunrai and Maiasaura by the Lontar Foundation, and selected for the "Modern Library of Indonesia" series. Her short story, "The Kitchen", was published in the January 2009 issue of the Chicago based journal, "Words without Borders". In 2009, she appeared as a featured speaker on a panel about "Global Journalism and Organizing" at the "Women, Action & The Media 2009 Conference" in Cambridge. In 2010, she also established a culture house, "Rumata Artspace" as a joint project with film director "Riri Riza". "Rumata", which is a Bugis-Makassar word for "our house" aims to serve as an independent forum for the development of arts and culture in Makassar and revival of South Sulawesi's literary tradition.

She is also credited with the role of the initiator and director of the mid-June "Makassar International Writers Festival" (MIWF) in Makassar in 2011. Her strong belief in literary writing and reading tradition encouraged her to attend festivals of writers in several countries like Singapore, Australia, France, the Netherlands and Hongkong, besides Ubud, Bali, and Utan Kayu, Jakarta.

Publications