Irzen Hawer

Irzen Hawer (born in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, 1960) is an Indonesian novelist and short story writer, currently working as a teacher at a high school in Batipuh, Tanah Datar, West Sumatra. From his hometown, Irzen completed five novels, each around 300 pages, within three years (2009–2011). His first novel, Love in the City of the Porch, was published in 2010, followed by several others, including Prose Love in the City of the Porch (July 2011), Eclipse in the City of the Porch (November 2011), Virtuous Girl (2012), and a religious novel.

After completing his secondary education in the science stream, he pursued higher education in Indonesian Language and Literature at the Faculty of Language and Arts, IKIP Padang (now Padang State University). During his university years, he was active in the arts at the Prakarsa Studio of the faculty. He also actively wrote short stories. In a short story writing competition held by Taufiq Ismail's Poetry House in 2010, one of his stories, Lenggang, won first place in the West Sumatra-wide event. The story was later published in a West Sumatran short story anthology titled A Hand Cut on God's Chair in 2011.

Irzen's desire to write novels began when he attended a Reading, Writing, and Literary Appreciation (MMAS) event at Taufiq Ismail's Poetry House at the end of 2008, which was also attended by Ahmad Tohari, the author of Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk. During the event, Irzen had the opportunity for brief discussions with the renowned author. Subsequently, Irzen felt inspired to write novels and soon after, in 2009, he completed his novel Love in the City of the Porch, which was published in early 2010. The novel received widespread acclaim, quickly making him a well-known figure. The alumnus of the Faculty of Language and Literature Education at IKIP Padang in 1985 has been quite productive, launching five novels since 2009.

Following the publication of his novels, other writers began to emerge in Padang Panjang, including Muhammad Subhan who published the novel Rinai Kabut Singgalang. Unexpectedly, other residents of Padang Panjang also secretly began writing novels, including Berlian Persada, Irzen Hawer's younger sibling. Berlian's novel titled Love's Decree from Heaven was serialized in a local media in West Sumatra and is soon to be published. Not only Berlian Persada, but a student from MAN/MAPK Padang Panjang named Mardhiyan Novita M.Z also completed a novel titled The Red and White Poet, published in Jakarta in 2011. In 2015, one of his short stories titled Ampek Sen was adapted into a film directed by Mevi Rosdian, a young cultural figure from West Sumatra, with a soundtrack composed by Muhammad Jujur.

• Love in the City of the Porch (2010)
• Prose Love in the City of the Porch (July 2011)
• Eclipse in the City of the Porch (November 2011)
• Virtuous Girl (2012)