Culture Minister pledges comprehensive support for Indonesia's literary ecosystem

Minister pledges comprehensive support for Indonesia's literary ecosystem

Culture Minister Fadli Zon has outlined a comprehensive strategy to strengthen Indonesia's literary ecosystem through coordinated efforts spanning talent development, community building, translation services, promotional initiatives, and expanded international market access.

The minister delivered his commitment at the 2026 Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa ceremony held at Graha Utama, Ministry of Culture, on Sunday, marking the culmination of this year's prestigious literary awards following the announcement of winners on August 23, 2026.

Zon, who became Indonesia's fourth Minister of Culture when he assumed office on October 21, 2024, leads the nation's first standalone cultural ministry in its 79 years of independence under President Prabowo Subianto's administration. The ministry oversees significant cultural wealth, including 313 national cultural heritage sites, six UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 2,727 intangible cultural heritage items, and over 1,200 preserved cultural assets.

Recognition as a catalyst for talent development

The minister emphasized the importance of literary recognition in fostering new talent and preserving cultural expression.

Awards such as this are very important because they are part of the appreciation for the emergence of new talents and new writers. After all, literature is a very important form of artistic expression that shares human experiences, personal experiences and emotions, while also capturing the spirit of an era.

Literature represents one of five fields covered by the National Talent Management program, an initiative from the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) that encompasses research and development, sports, and cultural arts. The Ministry of Culture manages the cultural arts component of this cross-sectoral program.

Ecosystem approach from creation to international markets

The ministry's ecosystem approach addresses the literary sector from creation through to international distribution.

We are developing an ecosystem approach from upstream to downstream, starting from creation and talent regeneration, strengthening communities and festivals, translation, promotion, and copyright management, to expanding access to markets and international networks,

Zon explained.

The 2026 edition introduced a notable innovation by involving literary communities in the initial recommendation process for works, expanding participation beyond the traditional judging panel. This collaborative approach aligns with the minister's call for coordinated action across the literary sector.

The minister urged stakeholders including writers, literary communities, festivals, publishers, and the Richard Oh Kusala Indonesia Foundation to collaborate in advancing Indonesian literature.

We hope that in the future, more literary practitioners will be involved in supporting and contributing to the advancement of literature in Indonesia,

he said.

Literature as cultural documentation

Pratiwi Juliani, Chairperson of the Richard Oh Kusala Indonesia Foundation, described literary awards as documentation of cultural development at specific historical moments.

Good literature does not always provide answers. Often, it instead prompts us to ask questions that can go beyond the work itself,

Juliani noted.

Award history and revival

The Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa traces its origins to the Khatulistiwa Literary Award established in 2001 by Richard Oh and Takeshi Ichiki. After running continuously for 21 years, the award was suspended following Richard Oh's death in July 2022. In 2024, his family and close associates established the Richard Oh Kusala Indonesia Foundation to preserve his legacy, reviving the award in 2025 under the name Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa.

The 2026 KSK operated with support from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Astra, and Falcon Pictures. Winners receive Rp 75 million in prize money, with an additional Rp 25 million allocated for purchasing copies of winning books for distribution to schools, communities, and libraries.

2026 award recipients

Three works earned recognition this year:

• "Ikhtiar yang Tak Benar-Benar" by Nukila Amal
• "Hantu Ulang-alik" by Ratri Ninditya
• "Nusantara, Amnesia" by Ari Pahala Hutabarat

Amal, born in Ternate in 1971, has established herself as a significant voice in Indonesian literature. Her novel "Cala Ibi" reached the top five finalists for the Khatulistiwa Literary Award in 2003, while her short story collection "Laluba" received the Best Literary Work Award from Tempo magazine in 2005.

The ministry's literary initiatives operate within Indonesia's constitutional framework, grounded in Article 32, Paragraph 1 of the 1945 Constitution and elaborated in Law No. 5 of 2017 on the Advancement of Culture, which provides the legal basis for cultural advancement programs.