The 2009 Festival is upon us!
And it’s bringing you over 80 of the hottest writers from Egypt, Mexico, Haiti, UK, US, Nepal, Australia, Kenya, New Zealand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy, India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Turkey, and of course plenty of home-grown talent to keep things moving. This is an opportunity not to be missed – be transported across the globe, as poets, travel writers, journalists, novelists, bloggers, literary critics, songwriters, playwrights, rappers and filmmakers take you to places beyond your wildest imaginations. From the serious – Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and Seno Gumira Ajidarma pondering the future of compassion – to the hilarious – as Mohammad Hanif, Tom Cho and Dany Laferiere deconstructing the art of comedy - and everywhere in between, this year’s Festival is blowing cross-cultural conversations wide open.
Fortunately for those who can’t give over 4 glorious days to just sit and take it all in, Ubud’s streets, hotels, restaurants and galleries will be filled with non-stop Festival action.
Free Exhibitions
Painting: Images of Suka Duka – an exhibition of paintings on the Festival theme that runs for the whole month of the Festival, featuring 8 local artists. See the incredible Threads of Life exhibition “Stories in Coth: Motifs and Meaning in Indonesia’s Textile Arts”, with an opening featuring weavers from East Flores. Photography: Imagemakers of the Future – the best of young emerging Indonesian photographers, presented by BLIPfest and Alila Ubud.
Tribute Night
Join in a tribute to WS Rendra, featuring performances and readings of his poetry, and Bali’s noted poet Warih Wisatsana will present a eulogy in his honour.
Theatre
The inimitable Nyoman Sura and Robert Brown will tell the story through music and dance of Johannn Sebastian Bach’s youthful visit to Bali, where legend has it he met and fell in love with a Balinese princess. Theatre fireFLY have three performances of Midsummer Night’s Dream in Ubud – a dramatic mash up of traditions and influences at Arma Resort. A season of playreadings and monologues, featuring works by Wole Soyinka, Cok Sawitri, Marco Calvani, Lily Yulianti Farid and Jennifer Claire.
Film
Free daily film screenings by Lawrence Blair, Amir Muhammad, Dany Laferriere and Asitha Ameresekere.
Free Denpasar Fringe
The Festival will run a program of events, discussions and readings in Denpasar, featuring invited writers. So if you can’t make it up the hill to Ubud, you still get to taste the action.
Literary Lunches
Dangerous women, Indonesians at home, Wole Soyinka, Hari Kunzru, Fatima Bhutto and Desi Anwar will all grace Ubud’s finest resorts – eat, listen, talk and be merry.
Food Events
The Festival revs up its tradition of food events with Master Chefs of Prose and Poetry – featuring the favourite recipes of our writers, and two afternoon events for those whose love for coffee, chocolate and words can never be sated.
Bilingual readings
Join leisurely afternoon walks through the rice fields, listen to poets boom from the Tjampuan bridge, or wander through the monkey forest with poets and performers. Or there’s always the hit of last year’s festival – listen to writers ode the wondrous martini and Naughty Nuris.
Music
Singalong with the writers at Karaoke Cabaret, see Jerinx from Superman is Dead rock the crowd at Hard Rock Café, chill to an evening of poetry, music and image at Gaya Fusion Gallery, or just hang around the Jalan Kajeng Street Party and soak up the vibes.
Plus a our annual Poetry Slam, Workshops, Children’s Program, Book Launches, a Closing Night Party to knock your socks off, and keep your eye out for our special Seminyak events.
The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival runs from 7 – 11 October. Full program and bookings online at
info@ubudwritersfestival.com
