Kumpulan cerita di dalam Waktu Helena mengisahkan kehidupan di dunia perbatasan antara yang baru dan yang magis, antara yang lazim dan yang ganjil, antara mimpi dan kenyataan. Kisah-kisahnya mengajak pembaca menggali lebih dalam makna cinta dan kebencian, bukan saja yang romantis, tapi juga yang keji. Ada manusia yang menganggap kisah cintanya begitu mustahil, ada manusia yang mencoba membunuh kenangan dengan sabun, ada manusia yang memilih bersahabat dengan seekor singa ketimbang manusia, ada kisah cinta manusia dengan sesosok hantu, sampai kisah persekongkolan sekelompok anarkis dengan makhluk tanpa kepala untuk melawan penggusuran. Kisah-kisah di dalam buku ini bagai mimpi yang mengguncang sampai membangunkan kita dari tidur yang dalam.
Author
Zaky Yamani was born in Bandung City, July 27th 1978. He worked as a journalist and editor for the Pikiran Rakyat daily from 2002 until 2016. He graduated with an MA in Journalism from Ateneo de Manila University assisted by a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism (2006 - 2008). Zaky also writes fiction, in the form of novels and short-stories. Books published include Johnny Mushroom and Other Stories (2011), Thirst in the Water Field (2012), Coffee-bitter Comedy (2013), Bandar: Family, Blood, and Inherited Sins (2014), and Running Amok (2016). All of his books were written in Indonesian language In 2008, Zaky received the Developing Asia Journalism Award in Tokyo, Japan, for his investigative report about water in Bandung City. Then in 2009 he received the Adiwarta Award (Indonesia’s journalism award) for his investigative reports on Indonesia’s foreign debts. In 2010 he received a Mochtar Lubis Fellowship to write about water. The book was published with the title Thirst in Water Fields. Again in 2012 he received the Adiwarta Award for his in-depth article about graffiti. His first novel, Bandar: Family, Blood and Inherited Sins, was long-listed for the 2014’s Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa (a national award for fictional works in Indonesia). In 2015 he was invited to the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali. Zaky will publish a collection of novelletes titled Kepada Assad Aku Menitip Diri (To Assad I Entrusted Myself) in 2017. Zaky is also working on a new novel, a historical romance with fifteenth century Indonesia and Portugal as background. For this novel, Zaky joined the residency program organized by National Book Committee. He will be conducting research in Portugal.
