#3 Lia Tjokro | TBR Winter 2025

In this episode of Call to the Editor, fiction editor Femke Van Son speaks with writer Lia Tjokro about her short story The Caretaker of Tears, featured in the Winter 2025 issue of The Brussels Review. Tjokro discusses her journey from cognitive neuroscience to literary fiction, and the personal experiences of grief and emotional expression that shaped the story. Together, they explore the cultural stigma around tears, the psychological and neurological value of crying, and how fantasy can be used to reframe vulnerability as purpose and care. The conversation also touches on Tjokro’s writing process, her literary influences, and her upcoming projects in both English and Indonesian.