The 2010 Citbank - Ubud Writers & Readers Festival theme is ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika : Harmony in Diversity’, the Indonesian national motto originating from the Sutasoma, an ancient Javanese text which advocates respect between all people, across religious, ethnic and social divides. 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.
Writers from China, Malta, 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, and from across the Indonesian archipelago.
The Citibank - Ubud Writers & Readers Festival mission is to create a world class literary event that brings together diverse Indonesian and international voices for dialogue and exchange in order to:
- share stories, ideas and their craft in the spirit of cross-cultural understanding;
- foster greater international awareness and understanding of Indonesian literary cultures;
- create opportunities for Indonesian writers to present their work to a global audience; and
- expose Indonesian audiences to the work of international writers.
Feature countries: Feature writers
Feature countries include:
Indonesia: Each year the Festival searches for a diverse mix of Indonesian writers to bring to the international stage. With established and emerging, young and old, from a myriad of ethnic and regional backgrounds, 30 Indonesian writers will open the stories of the archipelago to our audience. We are delighted to be able to feature both Sitor Situmorang, the grandfather of Indonesian letters, member of the Angkatan 45 [the revolutionary generation], jailed during the 1960s, and now living in the Netherlands, and Dewi Lestari, singer, songwriter, bestselling author, innovator and legendary twitterer, who represents the new generation of Indonesian literature.
Philippines: The Festival this year offers a unique and exiting opportunity to meet a delegation of writers from the Philippines – poets, playwrights, academics and artists will surprise and delight you. Dip into the rich literary heritage and contemporary writing scene of this diverse nation.
Vietnam: With writers from Vietnam, US, Australia and France, the Festival has found the brightest Vietnamese voices from around the world to illuminate this country that has long been of fascination. Guests include Nam Le, Anna Moi, Andrew Lam, Paul Nguyen, and Nguyen Qui Duc, named One of 30 Most Notable Asian Americans by A-Media.
Australia: As always, the Festival brings together the best writers Australia has to offer. From the established and well loved – Thomas Keneally, Frank Moorhouse and Robert Adamson, to the young and emerging – Jon Bauer, Emilie Zoey Baker, Daniel Ducrou, Patrick Allington – and everything in between.
East Timor: The winner of the first Tetum writing competition in 2009, Teodozio Ximenes will headline alongside Xanana’s biographer, Sara Niner, Tony Maniaty journalist and author of Shooting Balibo - and Chris Parkinson, who will bring his East Timor street art project to our audiences.
UK and Ireland: A stellar line-up Booker Prize winning Anne Enright, Louis de Bernières, Kate Adie, William Dalrymple, food writer and journalist Sarah Murray.
USA: The Festival this year is delighted to welcome writers from the United States - novelists Rabih Alameddine, Lisa Teasley and Kris Saknussemm, memoirist Ali Eteraz, human rights activist and writer Mike Otterman, writer and Director of Non-Fiction at the prestigious Iowa Writing Program Robin Hemley, children’s author Ann Martin Bowler, and spoken word and hip hop performers Mighty Joe and Kamau Abayomi.
Russia: For the first time outside of the UK, the winner of the prestigious Pushkin in Britain competition, held in London each year for diasporic Russian poets, will attend along with the writer, poet, critic and founder of the prize, Oleg Borushko.
Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati Foundation
The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is a project of the Mudra Swari Saraswati Foundation. Founded in 2004, the Foundation is an independent, non-profit, non-government organization. The members of the Foundation are committed to enriching the lives and livelihoods of Indonesians through the development of a range of community-building arts and cultural programs.
The primary goal of the Foundation is to give full expression to the creative needs of individuals and the community in order to better equip them to interact in our rapidly changing global society. Through its revenue from ticket sales to events and workshops, the Festival provides the Foundation with vital support to pursue its creative, educational and youth mission.
The Festival helps to promote Ubud as an arts and cultural centre, showcases Indonesian writers on an international stage and helps young Indonesians to reach their potential through educational programs and literature. Proceeds from ticket sales are also used to cover free public evening events, free workshops for local children and high school students and their teachers and to subsidise attendances of local residents who could not otherwise afford to attend.
Source: http://ubudwritersfestival.com
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