WS Rendra, who died in 2009 aged 73, was Indonesia's major contemporary poet and performance-maker. He was nicknamed Burung Merak, The Peacock, for his flamboyant and powerful performance style. He was one of the few artists in his country to dare criticise the ruling regime: as a consequence he was imprisoned for nine months in 1979, and his performances were often banned. He was an inspiration for the generations of young Indonesian poets and performers who came after him. This feature about his life and writing features archival recordings of Rendra reading his poetry in Bahasa Indonesian and discussing his work, comment by his literary translator Harry Avellling, and readings in English.