Book Launch – The Magnolia Grows at Night
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25.07.2026
Fransisca Angela and Zusters Onder de Bogen
Join Terang Press for the launch and collective reading of The Magnolia Grows at Night, followed by a guided walk to the Zusters Onder de Bogen convent. Rooted in the friendship between the artist Fransisca Angela’s Chinese-Indonesian grandmother and a Dutch nun in Sumatra, the book traces relationships of care across generations, where a community of nuns from Indonesia and Timor-Leste care for elderly Dutch nuns.
Written in dialogue with nuns from Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and the Netherlands, the book emerged from diary fragments written during the making of a film. Taking the form of a prose poem, it moves between memoir, diary, dialogue, and reportage while weaving together English, Indonesian, and Dutch. The collective reading will be joined by members of the convent community who contributed to the work.
After the reading at Limestone Books, participants will be guided through a walk to the Zusters Onder de Bogen convent. The afternoon concludes with a shared reflection session through writing and drawing, followed by celebratory Indonesian snacks.
Visual credit: Fransisca Angela (left), Florian Cramer 官無名 (right)