The 2010 Citibank-Ubud Writers & Readers Festival theme is 'Bhinneka Tunggal Ika : Harmony in Diversity', the Indonesian national motto originating from the Sutasoma, advocating respect between all people, across religious, ethnic and social diversity. From October 6 - 10, the brightest global writers will come together to debate the issues that divide and unite us, in a celebration of stories and voices. You'll hear about life and literature in China, Mexico, Djibouti, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, France, Bosnia, Turkey, South Africa, Australia, the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada, as well as having a unique opportunity to meet writers from over 10 provinces of Indonesia.

Expect Big Ideas. Expect the finest Literary Lunches with the world's finest literary minds. Expect to be blown away by young spoken word artists, and their craft and their depth of understanding of the complexities of the world we live in today, poetically. Expect a lot - we ARE considered 'One of the top six literary festivals in the world' Harper's Bazaar UK. There are hundreds of writers' festivals in the world today, did you know? Come, and see why we are considered that unique.

Special Events this year include contemporary Muslim and Indigenous Australian rappers slamming it out and bigging it up, a Literary Lunch with not one, but two Booker Prize winners, a very Special Vietnemese Event featuring Nam Le(The Boat) and Pauline Nguyen (Secrets of the Red Lantern) that celebrates the only country in the world that defeated both China and the United States at attempts of invasion,anddress up to the nines for an elegant and delectable evening of Martini's at Mosaic with William Dalrymple (Nine lives) and Frank Moorhouse, (Martini: A Memoir) and, and, and. a whole lot more. Contemporary, marginalized, brilliant and proud voices sit alongside the venerated, worthy and established, and shoot from the hip, together, relaxed, sharing a perspective. in a little village in inner Bali, where two rivers meet. Expect to be moved.

Of particular interest to BALI SPIRIT readers will be William Dalrymple and his new internationally lauded book 'Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India' and also the presence of eminent Buddhist scholar Richard Gombrich. Richard is one of the 20th century's most important scholars of Theravada Buddhism. He founded the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and (with Geoff Bamford) the Society for the Wider Understanding of the Buddhist Tradition. Rather than studying Buddhism, Jainism, and Vedism in isolation, Richard promoted an integrated method that has shed a great deal of light on both Buddhist thought and Buddhist early history. This is a rare opportunity to meet with one of the finest and most influential Buddhist minds living in the world today.

ALSO joining us for the 7th international Citibank - Ubud Writers & Readers Festival are Louis De Berniere, Booker Prize winners Anne Enright and Thomas Keneally, Kate Adie, William Dalrymple, Ma Jian, Dewi Lestari, Frank Moorhouse, Sitor Sitimorang, Robert Adamson, Jennifer Byrne, Rabih Alameddine, Nam Le, Abdourahman Waberi, Etgar Keret, Joan London, Suad Amiry, Tabish Khair, Christos Tsolkias, Ali Eteraz, Shane Maloney, Cate Kennedy and many many more

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