AMINEF is saddened at the passing of one of Indonesia’s most influential writers and Fulbright alumnus, Professor Budi Darma, 84, on August 21, 2021, in Surabaya.

Prof. Budi Darma was a recipient of two Fulbright awards. The first was a Fulbright Master’s Degree Scholarship to study English at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1974. His second Fulbright grant was the Fulbright Visiting Scholar to conduct postdoctoral research in the same field and university in 1990.

He shared his Fulbright years in an anniversary publication, “Forty Years of Scholarships and Mutual Understanding 1952 – 1992,”  published in 1992.

 “During my first stay in Indiana I completed a novel entitled “Olenka,” as well as a collection of short stories about people living in the Bloomington area. Being a resident in what some people call ‘the Heartland,’ the most ‘American’ part of America, gave me the inspiration for those stories. Without having experienced life in that region, such a project would have been impossible.

It’s funny, though. I somehow learned a lot about Indonesia and being Indonesian while I was in the U.S. When I’m here in my own country, I am surrounded by our own culture and caught up in the mechanics of day-to-day life. But my time in Indiana gave me much more than wider horizons and new understandings about the United States. I felt a detachment from my own culture and I could ponder my own Indonesian and my distinctly Indonesian responses to things. That’s a good experience for a writer.”

In a 2012 anniversary publication, he recounted his early days as an Indonesian Fulbrighter in Bloomington, Indiana.

Novelist and Fulbright alumnus Ahmad Fuadi, on his Facebook Page, wrote, “Even though we met only once, his personality felt very warm to the heart. He is a virtuous figure, a dharma figure. His personality embodies his name. Goodbye, Prof. Budi Darma..”

We at AMINEF extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.

Budi Darma’s profile on the AMINEF website.

​***

News source and obituary: UNESA Website and Kumparan.com