MARCELLA PURNAMA
BLOGGER, AUTHOR OF WHAT I WISH I HAD KNOWN: AND OTHER LESSONS YOU LEARNED IN YOUR TWENTIES
Five years of tertiary education later, I find myself favoring English to communicate my stories to others.
I was 12 when I read my first Harry Potter book. I had just finished watching the Prisoner of Azkaban and I couldn't wait to know what would happen next. So I bought the Indonesian translation of the Goblet of Fire.
I still remember reading it at midnight in bed, under my blanket with a flashlight because my parents didn't approve of Harry Potter. I still remember my heartache when Ron just didn't get all the signals that Hermione gave, and crying heartily when Cedric died. I remember not going down to eat dinner because I was reading the graveyard scene. Then I got caught by my mother.
She scolded me at first, but eventually relented and allowed me to read the book in peace. Thus my love for reading started.
After that first Harry Potter book, I began to read the entire series, then moved on to the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. During my teenage years, I began to read Melina Marchetta's books---from Looking for Alibrandi to the Lumatere Chronicles, which, to this day, remains one of my favorite fantasy series. Then I read various other books, before realizing the genres I love: nonfiction, fantasy and young adult.
There's a catch, though. Almost all the books I read after the Goblet of Fire were in English.
***
When my editor first emailed me in 2015 about writing a book on university life and beyond, I felt really honored, but the question remained: In what language would the book be written? I replied to the email eagerly, feeling ecstatic that they wanted to publish my book when I hadn't even written the manuscript. At the same time, I kept my hopes in check, for fear that they would retract their offer since the book was not going to be in Indonesian.
My editor had some doubts, but eventually decided to take me on board. The book was published in July this year, and for some reason, almost everyone asks me the question: Why in English?
"The target market is Indonesians, so why English?" a web-based magazine asked.