Not Singapore but interesting
nevertheless. If memory serves me, the NAC can give a grant to writers
who are accepted to appear at lit festivals but all of the acceptance
has to be done in advance and there's no guarantee that grants will be
given. But anyway, if anyone is in Bali in October this might be worth
a visit.
Ubud Writers & Readers
Festival
Suka Duka : Compassion &
Solidarity
7 October – 11
October 2009
January 2009
Ubud is in the throes of wet
season. Our lives are marked by afternoon rains and morning flashes of sunshine.
Since the last festival, ceremonies and colourful processions have come and gone
in between Christmas and New Year celebrations. This month, our books were
blessed on Saraswati Day and our computers received offerings in homage to all
things mechanical. Our little office is feeling rather sanctified. All good
omens for the sixth festival that is looming on the far
horizon.
In the meantime the festival team
is focusing on the 2009 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. Writers are being
invited at the speed of a thousand kerises, budgets are being drawn up, sponsors
approached and designs created. It’s all systems go under tropical
skies.
Last year was our most successful
festival to date. In terms of attendances, the festival numbers were more
positive than we could have imagined. Overall sales were at a record high with
audience participation increasing more than thirty percent. More than 100
writers appeared and participated in more than 50
events.
The Neka Museum of Art, the new
third venue this year, was filled to capacity. The in-conversation session with
Vikram Seth, presented by HSBC, saw an audience of nearly four hundred readers
and writers, who listened ardently to Seth chat jovially about his life growing
up in India.
A total of 43 venues were used
with panel sessions, book launches, performances, readings and literary lunches
brimming and buzzing to capacity.
This year’s festival promises to be as exciting as
ever. Our 2009 theme is Suka-Duka:
Compassion & Solidarity. Suka Duka is an ancient communal wisdom that for
centuries has been one of the main pillars of Bali’s traditional institutions and communities. The principle has guided the members of the
traditional institutions, such as banjar (neighbourhood organisations) and desa
pakraman (customary villages), to act as one single entity in dealing with
life’s hardships and blessings. The suffering of one member will be shouldered
by all, while the joy of one will be shared by the
other.
The theme reflects the Festival’s
commitment to turn this literary gathering into an inspiring moment, through
which writers and readers from every corner of the world can establish a mutual
understanding as well as a common platform to remind the world of the need to
think and act as one single, compassionate entity, particularly during this
epoch of violent conflicts and social turmoil.
In 2009, the enduring power of the
human spirit over suffering and hardship will be explored alongside stories that
have changed lives and tales of profound wisdom. Environmental issues and the
rise of fundamentalism will be further debated with globalisation, censorship of
media and world poverty. The art of storytelling will be celebrated together
with discussions on writing about travel, food, poetry and
song.
The Ubud Writers & Readers
Festival will continue its culinary tradition with visiting chefs descending on
the kitchens of some of Ubud's most gracious hotels. They will join forces with
our leading literary stars to present the kind of languorous lunches and dinners
for which we have become famous.
Invited guests include
Nobel Laureates J.M. Coetzee and Wole Soyinka, Kate Grenville, Abdourahman
Waberi, Mohammed Hanif, Laura Esquivel and Hari
Kunzru.
Stay
tuned!
Janet
The
Indonesian Program
The 2009 Ubud Writers and Readers
Festival will invite 10 emerging and five established Indonesian writers to
participate in our literary feast.
The selection process will be
carried out by a curatorial board comprising noted writers and former
participants of the Festival. In a deliberate effort to infuse the Festival with
fresh ideas and approaches, we are very pleased to announce a fresh new
Curatorial Board will be Melani Budianta, Mashuri, Lily Yulianti Farid, Azhari
and Tan Lioe Ie. A team of former members of the 2008
Curatorial Board, including prominent novelist Ahmad Tohari, will read all
submitted and acquired works and will recommended works to the Curatorial Board.
The Board will then make the final selection of
writers.
The Festival’s Committee invites
Indonesian writers to participate in the selection process by sending their
works and bios to the 2009 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival’s Indonesia Program
at info@ubudwritersfestival.com.
Submissions close on February
8.
The
Festival Team
2009 has brought a sea of change around the
office. Our wonderful Book Keeper and Office Assistant
Wayan Widi has had a baby girl, which caused much excitement when she went into
labour in the office! She is taking some
time in maternity leave, and we look forward to her return. Sarah Tooth, from Australia, has
joined the team to replace the indefatigable Finley Smith, and has very big
shoes to fill!
Within the Indonesian program,
Wayan Juniartha will be the 2009 Indonesian Program Coordinator, and Kadek
Krishna is continuing his work on our exciting Anthology project. Overseeing them all is Kadek Purnami, who has
worked on every Festival and is driving force of our successful Community
Development Program.
Many of you will also know our
irrepressible Sponsorship Manager, Roberto Aria Putra, who is continuing in that
role this year. More staff will be
coming on board as the year progresses, and we’ll keep you up to date.
www.ubudwritersfestival.com
As many of you will have noticed,
our website has not been updated since the end of the last Festival. We are currently working very hard on this,
and our new website will be launched soon.
You’ll hear the fanfare!
Help
the Festival
As a not-for-profit organisation
we rely on the generosity of individuals and corporations to keep the Festival
running. There are many ways you can
help, through volunteering, becoming a Friend of the Festival, or by becoming a
sponsor. Please contact us to find out
the benefits these can bring to you as well!
Our
Wonderful Sponsors
The staff and Committee of the Ubud
Writers & Readers Festival would like to thank all of our 2009 sponsors for
their ongoing support. Without you,
there would be no Festival You can help us by
supporting our sponsors.
Find them at http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/index.php?mid=36
general inquiries info@ubudwritersfestival.com
sponsorship inquiries berto@ubudwritersfestival.com
