Never too Young to be a Writer

Never too young
Deanna Ramsay, Contributor, Jakarta | Mon, 03/14/2011 11:52 AM

A new addition to Indonesia’s cohort of novelists has just emerged. Her name is Raisa Affandi, and she is just 11 years old. Raisa’s first novel was published a little over a week ago. Titled Mimi Bo and the Missing Diary, the exuberant and inventive work is set in a sometimes dreamlike fantasyland. One part Harry Potter for its school setting amidst student intrigue,one part Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for its obsession with sweets and one part surrealist illusion a la the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, Mimi Bo and the Missing Diary — at 195 pages — is a remarkable achievement for someone so young. And, the novel was written in English.
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She also invented a baby language for her book, Baahian, citing again her little sister’s inspiration. Clearly, Raisa’s interest lies in language; she is fluent in both English and Indonesian. Raisa spent four of her formative years living in Cambridge, England,while her father worked on his PhD and her mother an M.A., and English is essentially her first language. Currently living in Jakarta and attending an international school with instruction in both Indonesian.

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