Ayu Utami is an Indonesian writer born on 21 November 1968. She is renowned for her work in novels, short-stories, and articles. Her acclaimed novel, Saman (1998), is considered her masterpiece and was translated into English by Pamela Allen in 2005. Ayu boldly addresses issues of sex and politics, which were traditionally taboo for Indonesian women, marking a significant change in literature referred to as sastra wangi.

Utami grew up in Jakarta and graduated from the Faculty of Literature at Universitas Indonesia. She worked as a journalist for publications such as Humor, Matra, Forum Keadilan, and D&R. Following the closure of Tempo, Editor, and Detik during the New Order era, she co-founded the Alliance of Independent Journalists to protest against the censorship. Currently, she works at the cultural journal Kalam and at Teater Utan Kayu.

Her debut novel, Saman, was well-received by critics and is credited with introducing a new dimension to Indonesian literature. She gained recognition as a novelist after her novel won the Dewan Kesenian Jakarta novel-writing competition.