Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, BALI (7-11 Oct 2009)
Festival Opening Ceremony
UBUD WRITERS FESTIVAL 7-11 OCTOBER 2009
Suka-Duka is an Indonesian philosophy that translates as ‘compassion and solidarity’. It defines the essence of shared support that communities in Indonesia offer in times of joy and sorrow and is the theme of the sixth Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali.
The human condition will be one of the underlying themes of the 2009 Festival with more than 80 established and emerging writers from more than 20 countries confronting global issues of humanity, the endurance of the human spirit and the experience of the “other”.
Invited guests include Noble laureate Wole Soyinka, Vikas Swarup, Fatima Bhutto, Hari Kunzru, Mohammed Hanif, N.H. Dini, Kate Grenville, Lloyd Jones, Arthur Flowers, Sonya Hartnett, Seno Gumira Ajidarma, Uwem Akpan, Dany Laferriere and Alison Lester.
Writers, poets and artists from all corners of the world will ascend to Bali’s highland town of Ubud to expand vision and shatter ethnic stereotypes. Voices from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, Europe, the Pacific Rim and beyond will share their thoughts in a dynamic exchange of words and wisdom. In 2009 we welcome writers from Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria and Haiti.
Literary lunches and candle-lit dinners will be held in some of Ubud’s elegant hotels and gracious homes featuring acclaimed writers and visiting chefs. Poetry will be read under the shade of frangipani trees and late at night in Ubud’s legendary bars. Some of the finest performance poets in the region will dazzle in grass-roofed venues surrounded by ricefields. Be prepared to laugh out loud in a Karaoke celebration of words with our acclaimed authors belting out re-writes of modern tunes.
Workshops will teach the craft of writing, in between book launches, performances, exhibitions, cooking classes, cocktail parties and celebrations into the early hours of the morning.
The 2009 Festival will also take to the streets with a dazzling carnival of poetry and performance in one of Ubud’s charming laneways.
For details, go to http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/
Share