INDONESIAN EMERGING VOICES AT THE FOREFRONT OF SOUTHEAST ASIA’S MOST CELEBRATED ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL EVENT THIS 26-29 OCTOBER A not-for-profit … More July 5, 2017 →

From the moment the gates opened to the final mouthful, the third Ubud Food Festival (UFF) was enjoyed by more than … More Indonesian chefs, local produce and the vibrant future of Indonesia’s food industry in the spotlight at UFF17 →

A Rock lsquonrsquo Roll star at a Writersrsquo Festivalby Sarita Newson Gede Robi Supriyanto Robi Navicula is a Balinese rock musician activist writer farmer director of Akarumputcom and a certified permaculture designer who teaches organic farming around Indonesia Robi is the vocalist guitarist and founder of popular Indie rock band Navicula combining his activism and music as tools for social change Since 1996 in Bali they have released seven albums and won awards internationally toured Canada the United States and Australia They collaborate with organisations such as Greenpeace Indonesia Corruption Watch ICW Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia LIPI Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia Walhi and the farmers union Serikat Petani Indonesia SPI At Ubud Writers Readers Festival 2014 Robi participated with two ot

Ubud Food Festivala taste of whatrsquos to come With the success of The Kitchen program at the 2014 Ubud Writers Readers Festival Director Founder Janet DeNeefe has decided to go full steam ahead and launch a food festival commencing June 5 7 2015 in Ubud Bali Says Janet ldquoI have been living and breathing Indonesian food for more than 30 years and now itrsquos time to share this glorious cuisine with the world There will be culinary surprises around every corner with a lineup of local and international chefs from across the archipelago as well as filmmakers food writers growers and more in what is set to become Indonesiarsquos most exciting gastronomic celebrationrdquo The Ubud Food Festival will be an exciting threeday culinary extravaganza of cooking demonstra

Alphamama Brings Her Artistry To Ubudby Renee Melchert Thorpe The 2014 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival had a special theme of Saraswati Wisdom and Knowledge In reverence to the goddess of Arts and Literature the Festival featured extra artists in visual and musical endeavors Arguably the most creative band to come together for the timehonored closing party was a conglomeration of percussionists vocalists and assorted instrumentalists like Ben Walsh blazing riffs on drums built from junk that very day and the incomparable vocalist Toni Childs Australian renaissance woman whose father is from Manado Sulawesi Alphamama was also jamming onstage playing keyboards and singing her original music while the crowd swayed in appreciation We caught up with Alphamama while she was on tour in Africa in November Tell me about what yoursquore doing in South Africa

Top ten tips for top ten readsBy Shelley Kenigsberg As 2014 draws to a close you may notice even be bombarded by a particular kind of list emerging It has to do with books With those to read or buy as gifts or think about in some way There are many and various sources for these lists recommendations from a well respected critic a favourite author a best friendhellip and they usually get labelled the TOP TENshellip 10 best reads of 2014 the 10 best romance best literary fiction best scifi the ten that we wish wed never started but stayed obedient to the havetofinishthebook adage Because most of us dont have enough time to read everything we need to be discerning and allow for being surprised by joy as CS Lewis said at the superb finds that may arrive So these arent reading lists Its a l

An Economy of Words ndash Learning to listen to othersBy Sarita Newson ldquoPoets are the economists of words carving a fortune of meaning out of a frugality of wordsrdquo This was the introduction to an Ubud Writers Readers Festival discussion on the 3rd October 2014 led by a group of young poets who ldquoprune big stories down to size using the fine art of poetryrdquo I was happy to soak up the aspirations and inspiring influences words and thoughts of the five poets contributing to this session In spite of their radically different backgrounds their words spoke of their mutual love of language and an awareness of the importance of selfexpression in people of all ages Carlos Andrs Gmez chaired the session and encouraged interaction soliciting audience participation throughout His questions ldquoWha

The World Of Can XueBy Uma Anyar How many Chinese women writers have you read this year If your answer is few or none then may I introduce Can Xue whom I discovered at the Ubud Writers Readers Festival this past October Can Xue is the pen name of Deng Xiaohua She is an avantgarde writer whom Susan Sontag has said is the one Chinese writer most worthy of the Nobel Prize in Literature Can Xue is a wellchosen nom de plume as the term refers to opposite aspects of the same thing It can be interpreted as the stubborn dirty snow left at the end of winter on sidewalks and roadsides or the pure remaining snow at the peak of a mountain after the rest has melted Uniting opposites in one story is a clue as to how one might approach reading this compelling and challenging writer Books that are currently available in English translation include Dialogues in Paradise 1989 The Embroidered Shoe

Theres magic in them there Sanur starsa night of readings by the seaby Shelley Kenigsberg Its not an ordinary full moon on 7 October Its the blood moon a term thats become popular when referring to the total lunar eclipses in the 2014ndash2015 lunar cycle Its entirely appropriate then that its this night were gathered for the final event in the stellar festival that was Ubud Writers Readers Festival 2014 Even though the term blood moon has apparently no technical or astronomical basis it is soon evident that we are about to have the blood flowing more strongly in our veinshellip as were dazzled by the bright sky and silver sea at our marvelous venue the Tandjung Sari Hotel on Sanur beachfront When the sun has just set over