Willy Fahmy Agiska
Willy Fahmy Agiska (born 28 August 1992) is an Indonesian poet and editor. Born in Ciamis, West Java, he studied Indonesian language and literature at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) in Bandung and was ACTIVE in the university's Arena Studi Apresiasi Sastra (ASAS) literary community.
Willy published the poetry collections Mencatat Demam (2018), Unboxing (2023), seperti orang mati yang hidup (2025), and Tihang: puisi-puisi Sunda (2025). His first collection, Mencatat Demam, received the Best Poetry Book award in the 2019 Hari Puisi Indonesia poetry-book competition. He was also selected as one of 16 writers in Indonesia's 2023 National Talent Management programme.
In addition to writing, Willy has worked as a poetry-book editor and has been involved in literary publishing and media, including Buruan.co, Toko Atelir, and Velodrom.
Early life and education
Willy Fahmy Agiska was born in Ciamis, West Java, on 28 August 1992. He grew up in Kawali, Ciamis, and later studied Indonesian language and literature at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia in Bandung.
While at UPI, Willy was active in Arena Studi Apresiasi Sastra (ASAS). In 2012, he was selected as one of the poets from West Java for the sixth Pertemuan Penyair Nusantara (Nusantara Poets Meeting), held in Jambi. The organisers stated that nearly 3,000 poems had been submitted and that 300 poems were selected by a curatorial panel consisting of Acep Zamzam Noor, Dimas Arika Mihardja, and Gus tf.
Mencatat Demam
Willy's first poetry collection, Mencatat Demam, was published by Kentja Press in Ciamis in 2018. The catalogue of the Jakarta Public Library records the first EDition as a 36-page volume with . The collection won the Best Poetry Book award in the 2019 Hari Puisi Indonesia poetry-book competition. A 2019 publication by Kawaca.com also identified Mencatat Demam as the winning book and described Agiska as a student of Indonesian literature at UPI who had been writing poetry and participating in the Pertemuan Penyair Nusantara. The collection has also been the subject of literary criticism. In a 2020 essay, poet and writer Hasan Aspahani compared Agiska's poetry with the work of West Javanese poet Ramadhan K.H., discussing their shared Sundanese cultural background and Agiska's treatment of the landscape of Parahyangan. The same essay was subsequently published by the Hari Puisi Indonesia website.
Unboxing
Willy's second poetry collection, Unboxing, was published by Buruan & Co in 2023. The collection has been discussed in criticism of contemporary Indonesian poetry. An essay published by Tengara describes Unboxing as a second phase in Agiska's poetic development following Mencatat Demam, whose poems it characterises as more strongly lyrical.
By 2023, Salihara described Agiska as living in Jakarta, working as a manager at Atelir Ceremai, and managing the Toco-buruan.co bookstore and the literary website Buruan.co.
Seperti orang mati yang hidup
Willy's third poetry collection, seperti orang mati yang hidup, was published by Velodrom in 2025. The collection contains 31 poems. The book was reviewed in Pikiran Rakyat Koran, which discussed its treatment of everyday life, emptiness and mortality and identified it as Agiska's third poetry collection. A subsequent review in tatkala.co interpreted the collection in terms of exhaustion, restraint and the relationship between poetry and everyday life.
In June 2026, BandungBergerak.id published an extended discussion of the collection, connecting its poems with contemporary urban life, work, economic pressure and the anxieties of younger generations.
Tihang
In 2025, Willy published Tihang: puisi-puisi Sunda, a collection of poetry written in the Sundanese language. The National Library of Indonesia's bibliographic record lists Malire Cukang Lantaran as the publisher, with 60 pages and . The collection consists of 23 poems. Its publication marked a more direct use of Sundanese in Willy's poetry after his earlier collections in Indonesian.
In its discussion of the collection, Kabar Priangan focused on the concept of kukulutus, a Sundanese expression associated with complaining, grumbling and expressing anger. The article also described Willy's approach as combining everyday spoken language with poetic structure. Two further articles in Kabar Priangan examined the collection's use of colloquial and coarse vocabulary, repetition, humour, irony and imagery associated with death. The collection has also been the subject of a psychological and linguistic reading in Kabar Priangan, which discussed its use of everyday Sundanese vocabulary, repetition and the relationship between language and cultural experience.
Later work
In January 2026, tatkala.co published Willy's seven-part poem sequence Jalan Baru. The poems deal with departure, memory, resentment, love and the transition between past and present.
In June 2026, a study published in Prakata: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia Serta Pembelajaran analysed the language style of Jalan Baru, identifying metaphor, personification, repetition, symbolism and irony among the stylistic devices used in the poems.
Editing and publishing
Alongside his poetry, Willy has worked as an editor and in literary publishing. A 2025 profile published by the Language Development and Cultivation Agency describes him as a poetry-book editor, editor at Buruan.co, and manager of Toko Atelir and Velodrom. His involvement with Buruan.co predates his later publishing activities. In 2023, Salihara described him as managing the Toco-buruan.co bookstore and Buruan.co literary media outlet.
Willy has also written AbOUT poetry and literary practice. In 2024, tatkala.co published his essay 3 Tawaran Modus Penciptaan Puisi, originally presented as introductory material for a poetry-writing workshop at the Singaraja Literary Festival.
Awards and recognition
- Best Poetry Book, Hari Puisi Indonesia poetry-book competition, 2019, for Mencatat Demam.
- Selected as one of 16 writers in Indonesia's National Talent Management programme, 2023.
Poetry collections
- Mencatat Demam. Ciamis: Kentja Press, 2018. .
- Unboxing. Buruan & Co, 2023.
- seperti orang mati yang hidup. Velodrom, 2025.
- Tihang: puisi-puisi Sunda. Garut: Malire Cukang Lantaran, 2025. .
See also
- Indonesian literature
- Indonesian poetry