Nugroho was born in Yogyakarta, Special Region of Yogyakarta on 6 June 1961. He was the fourth child of postal workers Soetjipto Amin and Mariah, who eventually had seven children.[1] As a child, he attended an Islamic elementary school, later attending Catholic secondary schools. His father owned a lending library[2] and enjoyed writing, leading Nugroho to start writing from a young age; he later quit writing because he felt his father to be too critical.[1] He also enjoyed exploring, and would bathe in the Code River fed by the cold lahar runoffs from Mount Merapi; he notes that the sulfur, which was brought to the river by the lava, was good for his skin.[3]