An extremely popular writer, actor, and performer in Indonesia and Malaysia, W. S. Rendra is representative of a generation of authors seeking to distance themselves from the earlier ideological polemics of the 1960s. Yet, in doing so, he has not abandoned the tradition of using literature to examine Indonesian society.
Now a devout Muslim, Willibordus Surendra Rendra was born into a Javanese Catholic family. He studied literature at Gadjah Mada University and later spent three years studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the United States. During his stay, he wrote many of the poems in Blues for Bonnie. After returning to Indonesia in 1967, Rendra became interested in theater and set up his own company, adapting foreign plays for Indonesian audiences. He has also drawn on traditional Javanese wayang (shadow puppet plays) in his play The Struggle of the Naga Tribe.
Rendra's poems are, like the Javanese society he draws from, syncrontic. Combining Christian, Hindu, Islamic, and animistic elements, he emphasizes personal freedom, an assertion for life, and solidarity with common rural people.
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