Sapardi attended grammar school at Sekolah Dasar Kasatriyan in his home town of Surakarta (also known as Solo), and from there he went on to junior high and high school at SMP 2 and SMA 2.[3] He was an avid reader from an early age, and was a frequent visitor to the local libraries around Solo.[3] His interests were broad, ranging from the works of Karl May, William Saroyan, and Pramoedya Ananta Toer, to comics by R.A. Kosasih.[3] Eventually Sapardi, together with one of his younger siblings, began a lending library in their neighbourhood.[3]