ABSTRACT
While Mochtar Lubis was most controversial politically as editor of Indonesia Raya, since he release from Keagungan Street detention house in 1966 he played a formative role as a leading figure in the anticommunist artistic community initially fostered – and subsequently constrained – by the New Order. He edited the major literary magazine to emerge during the New Order. He was involved in the premier artistic organisation and arts centre to be funded by the Jakarta government, and founded a niche book publishing company to provide Indonesian translations of key international publications. While pursuing such cultural and artistic endeavours,1 he continued to publish his ownworks of fiction. For all these achievements, Mochtar Lubis was rewarded with honours nationally and sought out internationally as a spokesperson and ‘broker’ standing at the interstices of Indonesia and the world.
