Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
@mailbykite.bsky.social
Cultural worker/buruh seni. Disabled, from JKT. ANNAH, INFINITE out now ❤️🔥 Also wrote amuk, ULTIMATUM ORANGUTAN, ROPE, INDIGENOUS SPECIES, & I make art.
https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/annah-infinite/
https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/annah-infinite/
Pinned
The book of my life (so far), ANNAH, INFINITE is an escape story.
A translation of a painting, in speculative nonfic, poetry & art. Took 14 yrs, &I’m inviting you to love it as I do. Aug 19 UK, Nov 11 US.
For reviews/i’views/events: tramy@tiltedaxispress.com
www.tiltedaxispress.com/annah-infini...
A translation of a painting, in speculative nonfic, poetry & art. Took 14 yrs, &I’m inviting you to love it as I do. Aug 19 UK, Nov 11 US.
For reviews/i’views/events: tramy@tiltedaxispress.com
www.tiltedaxispress.com/annah-infini...
Masya Allah, this one was such an enormous relief on many levels.
So much going on I missed this major win:
Jan 14, activists with the anti-genocide group Palestine Action ended their monthslong hunger strike after the UK government rejected a $2.7 billion contract for a subsidiary of Israel’s largest weapons maker, Elbit Systems.
www.newarab.com/news/palesti...
Jan 14, activists with the anti-genocide group Palestine Action ended their monthslong hunger strike after the UK government rejected a $2.7 billion contract for a subsidiary of Israel’s largest weapons maker, Elbit Systems.
www.newarab.com/news/palesti...
Palestine Action hunger strike ends as Elbit loses UK contract
Palestine Action hunger strikers end their protest after Elbit loses a major UK defence contract, but campaigners say the fight is far from over.
www.newarab.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Masya Allah, this one was such an enormous relief on many levels.
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
This in person (UK) and online!
A reading and discussion of Annah, Infinite, an experimental work of creative non-fiction that challenges #ArtHistory, confronts colonial #ableism, and reclaims a stolen spirit…
the young girl in Annah la Javanaise (1893-94), Gauguin’s famous painting. #Lit #ArtSky
A reading and discussion of Annah, Infinite, an experimental work of creative non-fiction that challenges #ArtHistory, confronts colonial #ableism, and reclaims a stolen spirit…
the young girl in Annah la Javanaise (1893-94), Gauguin’s famous painting. #Lit #ArtSky
![Photo of a tiny brown girl with long hair (Annah la Javanaise) that Gaugin took from her home, was abusing and painting numerous times standing with him and other white men. She became pregnant with his baby and lost it. Gaugin painted that too.
Photograph by Gauguin, at the studio of 6, rue Vercingétorix. Front row, Swedish cellist Fritz Schneklud (center) and the musician Larrivel (right), with post-impressionist painter and sculptor Paul Sérusier, Annah la Javanaise, and the postimpressionist painter Georges Lacomb in the back row. Photograph: ©Museé du Pont Aven, Pont Aven, France. (Source: How Do We Look [2022])](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yg2ph6ezf2l5dktucvjbpoz2/bafkreiamocmmzclj5p5gmwkkqj7wxzpdi2exjlzgx3rn25qyejd4snwste@jpeg)
January 28, 2026 at 1:52 PM
This in person (UK) and online!
A reading and discussion of Annah, Infinite, an experimental work of creative non-fiction that challenges #ArtHistory, confronts colonial #ableism, and reclaims a stolen spirit…
the young girl in Annah la Javanaise (1893-94), Gauguin’s famous painting. #Lit #ArtSky
A reading and discussion of Annah, Infinite, an experimental work of creative non-fiction that challenges #ArtHistory, confronts colonial #ableism, and reclaims a stolen spirit…
the young girl in Annah la Javanaise (1893-94), Gauguin’s famous painting. #Lit #ArtSky
Been work-swamped and grieving, and aghast at the world, but excited about this tomorrow. There have always been disabled ppl using ingenuity to survive disbelief.
Room R201 in SOAS’ Main Building, ramp to entrance then lift to second floor. Hybrid and I’ll be signing books in person. 🤍
Room R201 in SOAS’ Main Building, ramp to entrance then lift to second floor. Hybrid and I’ll be signing books in person. 🤍
Please join us at SOAS and online for HOW WE APPEAR AND HOW WE ARE FELT: A Conversation w Dr Khairani Barokka about ANNAH, INFINITE.
Can’t wait to be in convo w Dr Anandi Rao and with all of you via Q and A.
JAN 29, 5-7PM BST, Register via QR code
www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/...
Can’t wait to be in convo w Dr Anandi Rao and with all of you via Q and A.
JAN 29, 5-7PM BST, Register via QR code
www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/...
January 28, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Been work-swamped and grieving, and aghast at the world, but excited about this tomorrow. There have always been disabled ppl using ingenuity to survive disbelief.
Room R201 in SOAS’ Main Building, ramp to entrance then lift to second floor. Hybrid and I’ll be signing books in person. 🤍
Room R201 in SOAS’ Main Building, ramp to entrance then lift to second floor. Hybrid and I’ll be signing books in person. 🤍
Please join us at SOAS and online for HOW WE APPEAR AND HOW WE ARE FELT: A Conversation w Dr Khairani Barokka about ANNAH, INFINITE.
Can’t wait to be in convo w Dr Anandi Rao and with all of you via Q and A.
JAN 29, 5-7PM BST, Register via QR code
www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/...
Can’t wait to be in convo w Dr Anandi Rao and with all of you via Q and A.
JAN 29, 5-7PM BST, Register via QR code
www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/...
January 16, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Please join us at SOAS and online for HOW WE APPEAR AND HOW WE ARE FELT: A Conversation w Dr Khairani Barokka about ANNAH, INFINITE.
Can’t wait to be in convo w Dr Anandi Rao and with all of you via Q and A.
JAN 29, 5-7PM BST, Register via QR code
www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/...
Can’t wait to be in convo w Dr Anandi Rao and with all of you via Q and A.
JAN 29, 5-7PM BST, Register via QR code
www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/...
The most wonderful news: the seams collective’s first translation mentee, peasant justice activist Amanda Echanis, has been acquitted after 5 yrs as a political prisoner. She has been reunited with her son!
www.rappler.com/philippines/...
www.rappler.com/philippines/...
Court frees activist-student leader Amanda Echanis after 5 years
Echanis, arrested in 2020, made history in 2025 after becoming the first political prisoner to be elected as a councilor of UP Diliman's student council
www.rappler.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:25 AM
The most wonderful news: the seams collective’s first translation mentee, peasant justice activist Amanda Echanis, has been acquitted after 5 yrs as a political prisoner. She has been reunited with her son!
www.rappler.com/philippines/...
www.rappler.com/philippines/...
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
Books Across Borders invites booksellers and librarians to join them for a New Year in Translation Book Buzz! Get the 411 on the seasons' most exciting translations from indie presses, and share space with fellow translation lovers.
Sign up today! 1/21, 8 pm ET:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Sign up today! 1/21, 8 pm ET:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
January 13, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Books Across Borders invites booksellers and librarians to join them for a New Year in Translation Book Buzz! Get the 411 on the seasons' most exciting translations from indie presses, and share space with fellow translation lovers.
Sign up today! 1/21, 8 pm ET:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Sign up today! 1/21, 8 pm ET:
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
The sight of my work, torn and singed but still legible, made me realise the importance of translating and protecting stories – so they remain when everything else falls away
- Amir Mehdi Haghighat
Lord, this was so moving
- Amir Mehdi Haghighat
Lord, this was so moving
You’ve all read this, yes?
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
A moment that changed me: in the bombed-out ruins of an apartment block, I saw a book I’d translated
The sight of my work, torn and singed but still legible, made me realise the importance of translating and protecting stories – so they remain when everything else falls away
www.theguardian.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:11 PM
The sight of my work, torn and singed but still legible, made me realise the importance of translating and protecting stories – so they remain when everything else falls away
- Amir Mehdi Haghighat
Lord, this was so moving
- Amir Mehdi Haghighat
Lord, this was so moving
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
4. Kuwait - Head Above Water, by Shahd Alshammari
This memoir about chronic illness and identity actually reshaped my brain. It entered my skull, punched me in the grey matter, and physically turned my brain into the shape of Alshammari's words.
theglobalwomenslibrary.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/k...
This memoir about chronic illness and identity actually reshaped my brain. It entered my skull, punched me in the grey matter, and physically turned my brain into the shape of Alshammari's words.
theglobalwomenslibrary.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/k...
Kuwait: Head Above Water, by Shahd Alshammari
A memoir about the intersections of race, gender and disability, with ruminations on the nature of memory and how the mind and body are changed by illness.
theglobalwomenslibrary.wordpress.com
July 3, 2025 at 11:46 AM
4. Kuwait - Head Above Water, by Shahd Alshammari
This memoir about chronic illness and identity actually reshaped my brain. It entered my skull, punched me in the grey matter, and physically turned my brain into the shape of Alshammari's words.
theglobalwomenslibrary.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/k...
This memoir about chronic illness and identity actually reshaped my brain. It entered my skull, punched me in the grey matter, and physically turned my brain into the shape of Alshammari's words.
theglobalwomenslibrary.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/k...
Let’s talk abt publishing timelines &crip time.
Like every other author, I know well the ambient pressure from most of publishing world for us to Sell Lots Out the Gate or Disappear.
However, exclusively published by small indies, &being part of #CripLit, my books & I exist in Crip Time. Meaning…
Like every other author, I know well the ambient pressure from most of publishing world for us to Sell Lots Out the Gate or Disappear.
However, exclusively published by small indies, &being part of #CripLit, my books & I exist in Crip Time. Meaning…
January 12, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Let’s talk abt publishing timelines &crip time.
Like every other author, I know well the ambient pressure from most of publishing world for us to Sell Lots Out the Gate or Disappear.
However, exclusively published by small indies, &being part of #CripLit, my books & I exist in Crip Time. Meaning…
Like every other author, I know well the ambient pressure from most of publishing world for us to Sell Lots Out the Gate or Disappear.
However, exclusively published by small indies, &being part of #CripLit, my books & I exist in Crip Time. Meaning…
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
Daily(ish) #SmallPress #books Bad Land by Corinna Chong (@arsenalpulp.bsky.social) & River in an Ocean: Essays on Translation, ed. Nuzhat Abbas (@tracepress.bsky.social & contribs @mailbykite.bsky.social @wordsweaver.bsky.social @rahat.bsky.social). See alt-text. #DSPBposts 💙📚 #BookSky
January 11, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Daily(ish) #SmallPress #books Bad Land by Corinna Chong (@arsenalpulp.bsky.social) & River in an Ocean: Essays on Translation, ed. Nuzhat Abbas (@tracepress.bsky.social & contribs @mailbykite.bsky.social @wordsweaver.bsky.social @rahat.bsky.social). See alt-text. #DSPBposts 💙📚 #BookSky
They do a solid chocolate orange cake at Café Palestina, Kentish Town. 💚🤍❤️🖤
January 11, 2026 at 3:22 PM
They do a solid chocolate orange cake at Café Palestina, Kentish Town. 💚🤍❤️🖤
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
Saw Dred Scott speak last year. Amazing artist.
In 2019, he recruited 400 volunteers (who made clothes and weapons) to reenact the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history, the German Coast Uprising of 1811.
Enslaved and Indigenous people marched to New Orleans, burning plantations along the way.
In 2019, he recruited 400 volunteers (who made clothes and weapons) to reenact the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history, the German Coast Uprising of 1811.
Enslaved and Indigenous people marched to New Orleans, burning plantations along the way.
I've learned so much history that's been suppressed or rewritten via ART in all mediums.
In Louisiana, US, and world history ( it was just Europe 😒), they never once mentioned the largest uprising of enslaved people in US.
I learned about it when an ARTIST called for people to help reenact it!
In Louisiana, US, and world history ( it was just Europe 😒), they never once mentioned the largest uprising of enslaved people in US.
I learned about it when an ARTIST called for people to help reenact it!
January 8, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Saw Dred Scott speak last year. Amazing artist.
In 2019, he recruited 400 volunteers (who made clothes and weapons) to reenact the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history, the German Coast Uprising of 1811.
Enslaved and Indigenous people marched to New Orleans, burning plantations along the way.
In 2019, he recruited 400 volunteers (who made clothes and weapons) to reenact the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history, the German Coast Uprising of 1811.
Enslaved and Indigenous people marched to New Orleans, burning plantations along the way.
Inna lillahi to UK-based Indonesian journo Nuraki Aziz, commty stalwart.
(First met when he covered my 2018 ICA Annah, Infinite work for BBC Indonesia, & it meant the world.)
Always pushing us to do more, he’d recently asked me to write a poem spking back to IDN pres—Mas, it will be in yr honour 🙏🏼
(First met when he covered my 2018 ICA Annah, Infinite work for BBC Indonesia, & it meant the world.)
Always pushing us to do more, he’d recently asked me to write a poem spking back to IDN pres—Mas, it will be in yr honour 🙏🏼
January 10, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Inna lillahi to UK-based Indonesian journo Nuraki Aziz, commty stalwart.
(First met when he covered my 2018 ICA Annah, Infinite work for BBC Indonesia, & it meant the world.)
Always pushing us to do more, he’d recently asked me to write a poem spking back to IDN pres—Mas, it will be in yr honour 🙏🏼
(First met when he covered my 2018 ICA Annah, Infinite work for BBC Indonesia, & it meant the world.)
Always pushing us to do more, he’d recently asked me to write a poem spking back to IDN pres—Mas, it will be in yr honour 🙏🏼
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
it probably shouldn't make it worse that Renee Nicole Good was a pretty fine poet but it does
2020 Academy of American Poets Prize
On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs by Renée Nicole Macklin
poets.org
January 8, 2026 at 4:23 AM
it probably shouldn't make it worse that Renee Nicole Good was a pretty fine poet but it does
And work that is often unsummarisable, about human connection and confidentiality.
This is so much reflected in ‘care’ becoming a banal buzzword now in the arts, versus its revolutionary usage in disability and racial justice movements.
This is so much reflected in ‘care’ becoming a banal buzzword now in the arts, versus its revolutionary usage in disability and racial justice movements.
Resisting fascism isn't about our egos. It's about protecting the most vulnerable. And that means lots of work that isn't necessarily for public consumption.
January 9, 2026 at 4:29 PM
And work that is often unsummarisable, about human connection and confidentiality.
This is so much reflected in ‘care’ becoming a banal buzzword now in the arts, versus its revolutionary usage in disability and racial justice movements.
This is so much reflected in ‘care’ becoming a banal buzzword now in the arts, versus its revolutionary usage in disability and racial justice movements.
Join Southbank Centre’s Indie Night Feb26, 7.45PM—we KNOW indie presses are publishing’s creative lifeblood.
I’ll read from & chat ANNAH, INFINITE w hosts Okechukwu Nzelu & Eliza Clark, + Deepa Anappara, Vigdis Hjorth & Tim MacGabhann, w a Max Porter intro
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/ind...
I’ll read from & chat ANNAH, INFINITE w hosts Okechukwu Nzelu & Eliza Clark, + Deepa Anappara, Vigdis Hjorth & Tim MacGabhann, w a Max Porter intro
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/ind...
Indie Night: February | Southbank Centre
www.southbankcentre.co.uk
January 9, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Join Southbank Centre’s Indie Night Feb26, 7.45PM—we KNOW indie presses are publishing’s creative lifeblood.
I’ll read from & chat ANNAH, INFINITE w hosts Okechukwu Nzelu & Eliza Clark, + Deepa Anappara, Vigdis Hjorth & Tim MacGabhann, w a Max Porter intro
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/ind...
I’ll read from & chat ANNAH, INFINITE w hosts Okechukwu Nzelu & Eliza Clark, + Deepa Anappara, Vigdis Hjorth & Tim MacGabhann, w a Max Porter intro
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/ind...
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
As a translator of some 11+ years, I feel this
the discourse on what jobs are acceptable to replace with generative AI reveals a lot about what we think of other people's jobs
January 9, 2026 at 11:56 AM
As a translator of some 11+ years, I feel this
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
What does it mean to archive during a livestreamed and unfolding genocide in Gaza?
How do we address the act of archiving as a productive and imaginative process that responds to destruction and erasure?
Join us on 21 January to discuss:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archiving-...
How do we address the act of archiving as a productive and imaginative process that responds to destruction and erasure?
Join us on 21 January to discuss:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archiving-...
Archiving Gaza in the Present: Art, Memory, Erasure
This event is a conversation around archiving and what it means to archive during a livestreamed and unfolding genocide in Gaza.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
January 7, 2026 at 10:23 AM
What does it mean to archive during a livestreamed and unfolding genocide in Gaza?
How do we address the act of archiving as a productive and imaginative process that responds to destruction and erasure?
Join us on 21 January to discuss:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archiving-...
How do we address the act of archiving as a productive and imaginative process that responds to destruction and erasure?
Join us on 21 January to discuss:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archiving-...
Happy New Year to all.
My word of the year is ‘aliveness’, wanting to continue working with others who believe in the multiplying joys of creative acts that make us feel alive.
This includes being mindful abt what we read, watch, and listen to, always in the direction of joy. 🙏🏼
My word of the year is ‘aliveness’, wanting to continue working with others who believe in the multiplying joys of creative acts that make us feel alive.
This includes being mindful abt what we read, watch, and listen to, always in the direction of joy. 🙏🏼
January 2, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Happy New Year to all.
My word of the year is ‘aliveness’, wanting to continue working with others who believe in the multiplying joys of creative acts that make us feel alive.
This includes being mindful abt what we read, watch, and listen to, always in the direction of joy. 🙏🏼
My word of the year is ‘aliveness’, wanting to continue working with others who believe in the multiplying joys of creative acts that make us feel alive.
This includes being mindful abt what we read, watch, and listen to, always in the direction of joy. 🙏🏼
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
Versions of these Gen-Ai infographics with Alt-text for better legibility!
December 29, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Versions of these Gen-Ai infographics with Alt-text for better legibility!
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
Heba Muraisi, on day 54: “[I]can feel myself get weaker as each day passes" with "bruising on her arm and constant body ache"…is losing the ability to "form sentences, and struggling to maintain conversation".
She vows to continue until their demands are met.
www.thenational.scot/news/2572535...
She vows to continue until their demands are met.
www.thenational.scot/news/2572535...
Hunger strikers on day 54 of protest 'losing ability to speak and stand'
PALESTINE Action protesters on hunger strike in prison are "losing the ability to speak and stand", according to Prisoners for Palestine
www.thenational.scot
December 28, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Heba Muraisi, on day 54: “[I]can feel myself get weaker as each day passes" with "bruising on her arm and constant body ache"…is losing the ability to "form sentences, and struggling to maintain conversation".
She vows to continue until their demands are met.
www.thenational.scot/news/2572535...
She vows to continue until their demands are met.
www.thenational.scot/news/2572535...
🤍🙏🏼✨ Tx for spotlighting books by Moving Mountains contributors—ANNAH, INFINITE is in such great company.
Wishing everyone a time of rest&love, whatever faith-based/spirituality-based/non-faith sources of belief in kindness and justice you may have.
Let’s keep trying to protect each other. #CripLit
Wishing everyone a time of rest&love, whatever faith-based/spirituality-based/non-faith sources of belief in kindness and justice you may have.
Let’s keep trying to protect each other. #CripLit
A final post for the year - Books of 2025 - from contributors of Moving Mountains: Writing Nature Through Illness & Disability, along with friends & allies.
#DisabilitySky #NatureWriting #BookSky
open.substack.com/pub/louiseke...
#DisabilitySky #NatureWriting #BookSky
open.substack.com/pub/louiseke...
Books of 2025
From Moving Mountains contributors & friends.
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:10 PM
🤍🙏🏼✨ Tx for spotlighting books by Moving Mountains contributors—ANNAH, INFINITE is in such great company.
Wishing everyone a time of rest&love, whatever faith-based/spirituality-based/non-faith sources of belief in kindness and justice you may have.
Let’s keep trying to protect each other. #CripLit
Wishing everyone a time of rest&love, whatever faith-based/spirituality-based/non-faith sources of belief in kindness and justice you may have.
Let’s keep trying to protect each other. #CripLit
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
Force the government to meet with the Palestine Action hunger strikers NOW
goodlaw.social/8f6640
goodlaw.social/8f6640
Force the government to meet with the Palestine Action hunger strikers NOW
Palestine Action activists are in the middle of their hunger strike, and their situation is desperate. Some of them have not eaten for 46 days. They have been refused medical attention, their communic...
goodlaw.social
December 19, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Force the government to meet with the Palestine Action hunger strikers NOW
goodlaw.social/8f6640
goodlaw.social/8f6640
Reposted by Okka (Khairani Barokka; she/her/dia)
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
November 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!