Ayu Utami was born in Bogor, Indonesia in 1968, grew up in Jakarta.
Her first novel, Saman, was awarded the Best Novel from Dewan Kesenian Jakarta in 1998 and in 2000 she was a Prince Claus Award laureate for opening new horizons for modern literature in Indonesia.
A founding member of Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists, Ayu Utami currently works for Radio 68H, an independent news radio station that is broadcast all over the country, and for the art center Komunitas Utan Kayu. She writes regular opinion pieces in a newspaper and a magazine in Indonesia.