join the kita crew.
KITA lit
Introducing books and media that feature KITA art and writing!
RANGDA: THE LEGENDARY GODDESS OF BALI
BY BRANDON SPARS, ILLUSTRATED BY CLARA SPARS
Rangda: The Legendary Goddess of Bali examines the layered origins of this premier Southeast Asian goddess. As revered as Pele of the Polynesian Islands, Rangda is perhaps the most familiar, most feared, and most revered deity, regularly represented by her unique and horrifying mask in the temples of Bali while also adorning the tourist pamphlets and t-shirts of Kuta Beach. Even though prominent, she has been both misunderstood and misrepresented. This book delves into her textual origins in the lontar tradition (palm leaf manuscripts) and combines that with a close look at her crucial role in Balinese cleansing rituals before arriving at how modern Indonesian writers are trying to free this goddess from her imprisonment by state and patriarchal powers. In an illustrated section, the author and illustrator combine their talents to portray Rangda’s power to captivate and enchant today and through the ages.
Brandon Spars has been a college and high school instructor for twenty-five years. While most of his teaching has been at UC Berkeley and Sonoma Academy, he has also taught at the College of the Marshall Islands, The Padang Teaching Institute in Sumatra, Indonesia and The University of Mahasaraswati in Bali, Indonesia. He received his doctorate in an interdisciplinary program at UC Berkeley in 2002.
As a teacher of both high school humanities and college writing, Brandon has always brought storytelling into his lessons, whether focusing on ancient history or English language acquisition. He has contributed to countless workshops and conferences on the intersection between storytelling, ancient history, and pedagogy.
Loud thumps and howls have always emanated from Brandon's classroom as he brings the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras to life for his students, but he has also gone on to incorporate many tales from his own adventures abroad in places such as Indonesia and the Marshall Islands. In 2013, his passion for stories and storytelling began to go beyond the classroom, and he has become a regular Bay Area storyteller at events such as the Wine Country Spoken Word Festival, David Nihill's "A Funny Thing Happened," the Storytelling Association of California Conference, the San Francisco Free Folk Festival, Bay Area Storytelling Hijacked, and many others. He is a TEDx speaker and a five-time champion of the Moth StorySLAM (including two GrandSLAMS).
THIS BOOK FEATURES...
...ORIGINAL KITA DRAWINGS!
author & illustrator discussion
PUBLISHED BY
"sanaa na upendo" poem series
BY NADIA 'JORDIE' SMOTHERS
