Tri Hita Karana is the theme of the Fifth International Ubud Writers &
Readers Festival. Tri Hita Karana is a Balinese Hindu concept that translates
as the balance between God, Humanity and Nature. Invited international guests
include acclaimed Indian author Vikram Seth, US novelist John Berendt, Arabic
Booker prize winner Bahaa Taher from Egypt, Camilla Gibb from Canada, Mexican
author Alberto Ruy-Sanchez, Australians Alexis Wright and Father Frank Brennan,
2007 Man Booker Prize short-listed writer Indra Sinha, Chinese writer Geling
Yan, Philippine poet Alfred Yuson and environmentalist, Helena Norberg-Hodge.
Indonesian writers include emerging stars, Andrea Hirata, Dyah Merta and Saur
Marlina Manurung.
Collision of Cultures will be one of the underlying themes of the 2008 Festival
with established and emerging writers confronting the issues of ‘Us and
Them’. Discussions on the environment, world
religions, globalisation and the politics of food will be delved into together
with the subject of migration and its impact on communities. Hot debates
addressing crime and punishment in Asia, and more specifically drugs, civil
rights and moral dilemmas, will also take centre-stage.
On the Indonesian front, the Festival will pay homage to the late Sutan Takdir
Alijshabana, acclaimed writer and philosopher, for his contribution to the
development of Bahasa Indonesia in modern times. A night of performance and
readings under the stars in one of Ubud's majestic temples will be one of the
feature events.
It will be a dialogue like no other at Ubud, which lies on the fertile
crossroads of two rivers, two oceans and two continents - Asia and Australia.
In the 1930s, it was the exotic retreat of the rich and famous and has now
re-invented itself as an international meeting place for writers, poets and
artists from all parts of the world. The UWRF has become the stage where voices
from China, India, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and more are
heard. In 2008, we will strengthen this partnership and engage writers from
beyond the region into the heart of Africa and Central America.
Satisfy your hedonistic passions with our acclaimed stars by luxuriating in the
lush surroundings of Ubud's elegant hotels and gracious homes at our literary
lunches and dinners. Join our Long Table feast in the rice fields featuring
acclaimed chefs and food writers as they showcase Bali's vibrant food culture.
Sip on lemongrass tea under the shade of a Buddhist stupa and savour readings
to the sound of Balinese bamboo flutes. Enjoy workshops that teach the craft of
writing or cultural activities that offer a peek into the mystical, magical
world of Bali, in between book launches, performances, exhibitions, cocktail
parties and celebrations into the early hours of the morning.
And if that is not enough, the 2008 Festival will take to the streets,
literally, with International Street performers matching their wits against
Ubud's youth in a carnival of skill and artistry.
Is it any wonder we are named ‘one of the top six writer's festivals in
the world!’
www.ubudwritersfestival.com
It was, and is, and hopefully will always be a wonderfully intimate
festival. I have made great friends of writers and readers, heard exciting
talks, and eaten meals I did not know existed. Thank you!
— Booker-prize winning author
Michael Ondaatje, 2005
Last year it was Michael Ondaatje, Amitav Ghosh, Xanana Gusmao, Kirsty Sword
Gusmao, Putu Wijaya and Shaun Tan exploring "Between Worlds". This year,
another exciting line-up of authors from various parts of the world will
explore the theme:
Desa-Kala-Patra: Place-Time-Identity.
October now marks the month in Bali that is destined to become known around the
world for one of South-East Asia's greatest literary events. The Ubud Writers
& Readers Festival has all the trimmings of a world-class writers festival
and is well on its way to becoming an equivalent of a FLIP – the
celebrated Brazilian Literary Festival, in our own sumptuous backyard.
This year, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival promises to charm you once
more with four days of literary excitement in one of the world's most magical
settings. Sit back and enjoy inspiring discussions, conversations, readings and
lunches overlooking a never-ending view of rice fields and coconut trees with
readers and writers from all corners of the globe.
Our theme Desa-Kala-Patra: Time-Place-Identity will address the ties that bind
us to place, ancestry and identity in modern times. Selected from the 2005
festival, these are the issues that writers from all over the world repeatedly
discussed. Desa-Kala-Patra is part of a basic life principle for the Balinese
people.
This year, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival will bring a more diverse
group of authors to our shores as we celebrate writers from Asia and beyond. In
an effort to embrace our Pacific neighbours, we will be including a line-up
from Fiji to New Zealand, presenting dynamic poets and performers from this
part of the world.
Award-winning Sri Lankan writers will share their stories alongside Indonesian
and Australian writers in a cross-cultural cocktail of unforgettable exchanges.
This year we are also proud to showcase the brave new voices of Iran, with a
line-up of dynamic women writers who are breaking grounds by dealing with
social issues and cultural identity. And once again, Indian writers will steal
the show with their stylish saris and charm, in a series of vibrant discussions
about love, life, food and literature.
Of course, some old favourites will return, due to popular demand, but there
will be plenty of new faces brimming with new ideas and enthusiasm for our
theme. Days of discussion will drift into nights of dazzling, and often
hilarious entertainment as we offer you the best of Balinese hospitality.
Literary lunches in Ubud's elegant hotels will, once again, run alongside a
stimulating series of how-to workshops.
It all adds up to a tropical heat wave of inspiration and excitement.
There is no other writer's festival like it!
See you in October. – Janet De Neefe, Festival Director
Spotlight on 2006 Festival Guests
Samuel Wagan Watson
Samuel Wagan Watson was born in Brisbane in 1972 of Irish, German and
Aboriginal (Bundjalung and Birri Gubba) ancestry. His father and grandfather
were both activists. His great-grandfather was sold into bondage to a white
station owner in central Queensland. He worked in ring-barking camps until he
had enough money to hire a lawyer who had him freed from the Aboriginal
Protection Act, one of the first Aboriginal people to do so.
Wagan Watson's father enrolled at the University of Queensland in 1971, the
only indigenous student amongst thousands of white students. He is now a
lecturer in black Australian literature and was a central organiser of the
People's March on the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting [CHOGM].
Samuel Wagan Watson himself is a Brisbane-based writer and Public Art Project
Manager. He has been a salesman, public relations officer, fraud investigator,
graphic artist, labourer, law clerk, film industry technician, and an actor.
Samuel describes his influences in writing as Nick Cave, Tom Waites, Jack
Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, and Robert Adamson. His other influences are his
father, the novelist, Sam Watson and his mother, who is a specialist teacher.
Samuel Wagan Watson's first collection of poetry was called
Of muse,
meandering and midnight and it won the David Unaipon Award for emerging
Indigenous writers. It also received a Highly Commended in both the Anne Elder
Awards and the 2000 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Australian Culture.
Wagan Watson then released the collections
Itinerant Blues and
Hotel Bone.
His most recent collection
Smoke-Encrypted Whispers was named the
2005 Book of the Year in Australia's leading literary award, the NSW Premier's
Literary Award.
Smoke Encrypted Whispers, published in June 2004, is a stunning
collection of exhilarating road poems, urban songlines and ancestral ties that
have become the hallmarks of this popular young poet. The volume contains poems
from all of Samuel's publications, as well as a selection of new, previously
unpublished work.
Elmo Jayawardena
Elmo Jayawardena was born and educated in Sri Lanka. He is the founder /
president of AFLAC International (Association for Lighting a Candle), a
humanitarian organisation working to alleviate poverty in Sri Lanka.
Sam's
Story, his first novel, won the Gratiaen Prize 2001. His second novel,
The Last Kingdom of Sinhalay was the winner of State Literary Award in
2005.
Sam's Story is about Sri Lanka. It is narrated by Sam, an
illiterate houseboy born in a village too remote for maps, brought to work in a
town house where he finds momentary happiness in a life muddied by difficult
days and painful moments. It is about the tears he shed and the days he wished
he could forget, of the people he loved and the others he loved to hate. The
story reaches across Sri Lanka and gathers into its fold many characters: Piya,
Sam's childhood friend; Kaluwa, the son of a rich Mudalali; Leandro, the Tamil
cook; Lucky, the barber and Sam's two brothers, Jaya and Madiya who join the
army to fight the separatists.
This is the story of a country gasping for fresh air in the midst of an
unending civil war and the chronic trauma it creates in its people, afflicting
every life in every race, leaving none untouched.
Travel
Great Travel Packages from Australia and New Zealand
Garuda Orient Holidays will be putting together Festival packages for
booklovers flying to the Festival from Australia and New Zealand. Prices start
from just $430 pp share twin, including return Bali airport/Ubud transfers, 4
nights accommodation and Festival Registration Fee.
For enquiries and a copy of Garuda Indonesia's "Bali on any budget" brochure,
see your local travel agent or call Garuda Indonesia on 1300 365 331.
www.balionanybudget.com.au
Positions Vacant
Call For Volunteers – Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, 2006
Without volunteers, there would be no ubud Writers & Readers Festival! Each
year the festival recruits around 200 volunteers who take up a wide range of
roles both prior to and during the Festival. The Festival is now welcoming
applications/enquires from people interested in volunteering for the 2006 Ubud
Writers & Readers Festival.
The Festival program will commence on September 28 and conclude on October 3,
2006. The lead up to the big week involves many, many months of planning and
'on the ground' work involving people with varied expertise in many fields.
Each year volunteers are needed to help with translation, administration, PR
and media, accounting, facilitating the children's program, organising book
launches and feature events, ticket selling, transport, emceeing and much, much
more. If you have a 'skill/talent' that you think we could use during this
period, please contact us as soon as possible. New Volunteers please email me
at
peta@ubudwritersfestival.com to arrange a meeting. All past Volunteers
will be notified via email with a date for a 'get together meeting' to canvas
your interest in committing to another year with us.
Looking forward to meeting new volunteers and catching up with 'old' ones...
Peta Hanslow
Coordinator of Volunteers
Human Resource Manager 2006
Finley Smith
Festival Manager
2006 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival
t: +62 361 971 605
e:
finley@ubudwritersfestival.com
www.ubudwritersfestival.com
