Born in Jakarta, Laksmi was a Minangkabau descent from Sungai Puar, West Sumatra. Her grand father Kasoema Sutan Pamuntjak was an editor of Balai Pustaka and founder of CV Djambatan, a publishing company. Laksmi who writes in Indonesian and English, is the author of two collections of poetry; a collection of poetry and prose; a treatise on the relationship between man and violence based on the Iliad; a collection of short stories based on paintings; four editions of the award-winning The Jakarta Good Food Guide; two translations of the works of leading Indonesian poet and essayist Goenawan Mohamad, and two best-selling novels. Laksmi's first novelAmba, a national bestseller, was the winner of the Literaturpreis 2016. It is the only Germanliterary prize awarded to women authors from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Arab World. The novel is a modern take on The Mahabharata, set against the backdrop of the Indonesian mass killings of 1965 and the Burupenal colony. The novel has been translated into English, German and Dutch. The US edition of the English translation, The Question of Red, was published in July 2016. The English translation of her second novel, Aruna dan Lidahnya, is due for publication in the US in early 2017. A movie adaptation based on the book is announced to star Indonesian actress Dian Sastrowardoyo. In August 2015, the German translation of Amba,Alle Farben Rot, was Number 1 on the Weltempfaenger list for the best international work of fiction translated into German. It has also appeared on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung's list of 8 Most Important Novels of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015, De Bild's Top 10 Books of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015, and the ORF Kultur 's Top 10 List for November 2015. In 2012, Laksmi, who is co-founder of the bilingual Aksara Bookstore, was selected as the Indonesian representative at the Poetry Parnassus/Cultural Olympics, the largest poetry festival in the UK, held in conjunction with the London Olympics. Her prose and poetry have been published in many international journals, including the preface to Not a Muse: A World Poetry Anthology. Between 2009 and 2011, Laksmi was jury member of the Prince Claus Awards based in Amsterdam. She has one daughter, Nadia Larasati, aged 22. In 2016, Laksmi received LiBeraturpreis, a German literary award sponsored by the Frankfurt Book Fair, for her novel Amba.
