Book Launch: Love That Grew Apart
On the 20th of December 2020, precisely at 13:00, our book launch began. The latest publications of that distinct Indonesian rainy season are debut novellas written by IWEC Academy’s first generation of writers. Authors Nakisha Kay, Thea Samala, and Kyra Torrita, were joined with their tutor Farah Fakhirah and host Bilqis Muti’ah. They expressed their inexplicable delight in clutching their books to their chests.
Watch Out! Si Pembuat Onar by Thea Samala
Jamila Si Pecinta Gula by Nakisha Kay
Kelas Empat yang Menyebalkan by Kyra Torrita
These publications are new additions to IWEC’s TellTale Series, brimming with care and careful craft by these young authors, who were no older than 13 years old when their debuts came out. IWEC Publishing’s editors, no other than its founder and CEO Maylia Sutarto as well as its co-founder and head tutor Fairuza Hanun, prized the preservation of the authors’ authenticity. “Their works are humorous, light-hearted,” Fairuza commented, “but in undertones you can feel a story that is heavy with meaning and the morals any reader, especially a child, to pluck lessons from.”
Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, we kept a safe, sterilised environment where the only live audience were a couple of family members, whilst others could watch online through @iwecpublishing’s Instagram Live. Now, the event’s recording is available on the same account’s IGTV.
The picture above shows a phone screen recording all this happiness in a video which you can visit on @iwecpublishing’s Instagram account. Two of the authors, Nakisha and Thea, were filmed in the same setting as the host Bilqis and tutor Farah, while the third author, Kyra, was connected to them through the IG Live.
As Kyra joined them on the screen, she enthusiastically greeted her friends slash classmates slash fellow writers who were kilometres away, yet the latter fact never seemed to wet the nostalgic mood that blanketed them. “It’s been so long!” Kyra exclaimed. Thea and Nakisha waved back with fierce joy.
Creative writing tutor Farah Fakhirah teared up when she was asked about the rollercoaster journey she had gone through with her former students. It had been a year since they had last met, due to their completion of their manuscripts and the pandemic that hindered them to meet.
Alas, the event must come to a close.
The family supporters came up to the front, gifting the present authors each a bouquet of cool-palette
blossoms wrapped in warm brown paper and tied with a piece of bronze ribbon.
Those delicately-arranged bouquets were not the only lovely bouquets in their hands. Their words held a similar pretty delicateness bound with book spine glue and paper and ink, and would last, we all pray, in the years to come.
A memory of pride, joy and love that only a teacher can feel for their students, distilled in a photograph. The collective sigh of relief that the event went smoothly, and the withdrawal of cameras, distanced hugs, the scent of coffee and tea lingering in the air. It was 14:30 Western Indonesia Time when the event ended…
