A Knock From the North: Collective Spoken Word & Book Launch

Celebrate the launch of Sipit, a collection of North Jakarta poems and collages by Yosephine Salim, through a unique collective spoken word experience. Moving beyond traditional book launches, every guest is invited to bring the verses to life by reading them aloud. This communal celebration will be accompanied by an introduction from Maesy Ang and discussion with Charlenne Kayla.

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Sipit arrives like a knock from North Jakarta, a reminder that poetry and stories from this region are scarce, yet deeply desired. Like a drop of lapciong hitting a hot pan, #BukuSipit returns to wake our senses. This new edition, published with Terang Press (@terangpress), features additional poems and a new design.

The book opens a space for those who have lived in-between, shaped by multiple identities and never fully fitting into any single box. Beyond questions of identity, Yosephine’s poems confront class inequality, the exhaustion of Jakarta’s working class, struggles with faith, anger, and the intimate tensions of family life. Stories rooted in Jakarta Utara, yet resonate far beyond it.

Mirroring the rhythm of Keluar and Masuk, the evening unfolds as a journey: first outward, into the pulse of the streets, then inward, toward reflection of oneself and grief. We invite you to gather, read aloud, listen closely, and celebrate #BukuSipit together in the spirit of the Lunar New Year.

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Yosephine Salim

Yosephine Salim was born and raised in Pluit, North Jakarta, an area with strong Chinese cultural influences. She grew up in a house that doubled as a mess for her mother's catering business. Yosephine is a writer and family financial planner. Sipit is her first book of poetry and collage

Maesy Ang

Maesy Ang co-founded POST, an independent bookshop and publisher in Pasar Santa, Jakarta, in 2014. She is the co-author of the novella Semasa (POST Press, 2018) and co-editor of The Book of Jakarta anthology (Comma Press Manchester, 2020).

Charlenne Kayla

Charlenne Kayla Roeslie is a Jakarta-based writer and researcher with a strong interest in identity, gender, and culture. In recent years, she has been working to reconnect with, rediscover, and redefine her identity as a Chinese-Indonesian.

She currently works full-time at MET Glodok and is actively involved in community organizing and archival work with Suara Peranakan.

About Terang Press

Terang Press publishes writing and artistic works that move through the shared terrain of personal memory, and place within the diaspora community, particularly from Asia. Their approach in book making is influenced by visual language, where image and text meet, overlap, and illuminate one another.Terang, meaning ‘light’ in Bahasa Indonesia is based between Amsterdam and Jakarta. - terangpress.com @terangpress