Twenty years since the initial launch of Sihir Perempuan, Intan Paramaditha’s literary orations are slated to appear in Penguin’s prestigious series Vintage Classics “Weird Girls”.

With a September 2025 release date, the book—which directly translates to “Women’s Witchcraft”—will appear in its English format, translated by Stephen J. Epstein, under the title Apple and Knife. Sihir Perempuan comprises a various array of short stories that debuted in 2005, making its mark as one of the most influential pieces of feminist Indonesian literature.

Showcasing tales of women who challenge conforming social norms—or, as Paramaditha labeled them, “cegil”, a demeaning term reframed through an endearing lens by the author at the book’s 20th anniversary. Adding two unreleased scripts to the haunting oration with a hardcover illustration by Wulang Sunu, Sihir Perempuan’s twenty-year journey harkened the horrors, myths, and folklore from a feminist standpoint, exploring how women are able to fit into any shoe their heart desires—mother, daughter, hard worker, or a porcelain doll—without mutilation. 

Paramaditha focuses on subverting the patriarchal angle of terrorizing female roles by challenging the roles of vampires, ghosts, and killers, exploring how patriarchy has shaped female figures in myths and folklore to either be no more than ghostly figures or perfectly obedient mannequins. The cross-generational stories in each chapter gives commentary on capitalism, slander of beauty, and familial discourse, issues that are still more than relevant in 2025.

As it finds a new home in Vintage Classics “Weird Girls”, Intan Paramaditha and Sihir Perempuan continue to celebrate the disobedience of women—the “cegils” that continuously echoes through the landscape of Indonesian and global literature.