UNE languages graduate and former employee, Jim Scanlan, has won a national competition for the translation of an important Indonesian poem into English.

Jim, who graduated with a Diploma in Modern Languages majoring in Indonesian in 2016, won the poetry section of the 2018 AALITRA Translation Prize for his work translating the set poem Barangkali (“Perhaps . . .”), by influential Indonesian poet Amir Hamzah.

The AALITRA Translation Prize is a biennial competition organised by the Australian Association for Literary Translation, attracting entrants from around Australia. The featured language this year was Indonesian.

Jim received the prize at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Melbourne on 20 September.

Jim said he was fortunate to have been able to study Indonesian at UNE, where he was encouraged to take advantage of opportunities such as the AALITRA Translation Prize competition.

Jim also worked at UNE as a public relations journalist from 2001 until 2012.