Eka Budianta

Who is Eka Budianta?

Christophorus Apolinaris Eka Budianta Martoredjo, also known as C. A. Eka Budianta, more commonly known as Eka Budianta is an Indonesian poet. He was born into a Catholic family and was the second child of nine. His father was a farmer and his mother worked as an elementary school teacher. After graduating from high school in Malang, he attended the Lembaga Pendidikan Kesenian Jakarta, now known as Institut Kesenian Jakarta but did not complete his studies. From 1975 to 1979, Eka Budianta studied Japanese literature at the Department of East Asian Studies Literature then changed to the Department of History, Faculty of Letters, University of Indonesia. He then studied journalism at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College in the United States from 1980-81.

After working as a reporter for Tempo weekly newsmagazine and the Japanese newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, and after some time in the U.S. began to work for the British Broadcasting Corporation in London, where he currently resides. He was the Honorary Fellow in Writing at the University of Iowa in 1987 and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Cornell University, Ithaca in 1990. He published his first collection of poetry, Ada, in 1976. Since that time he has published several more volumes, including Bang Bang Tut, Bel, Rel, Sabda Bersahut Sabda, Sejuta Milyar Satu and Lautan Cinta.