Media Clippings

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival

Oct 28, 2023 / Saturday Paper by Alison Croggon
South-East Asia’s most significant literary event, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, is a chance to not only nurture local writers but also to reflect on global issues.

It’s a day after landing in Bali. I’m slightly jet lagged, still reeling from the sensual shock of South-East Asia – the smell of petrol, incense and clove cigarettes, the exuberant foliage, the humid heat. As part of a packed audience under a bamboo canopy at Taman Baca, the central site for the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, I’m listening to Bangladeshi–American writer and perfumer Tanaïs.

“Perfume,” Tanaïs says, reading from their book In Sensorium: Notes for my people, “is a way to wrest back our bodies from the hard damage of colonisation.” It’s a startling comment, but during a riveting conversation with their interlocutor, writer, poet and artist Eva Fernandes, they unpack their case. How colonialism is an ideology that privileges sight over all other senses, how the intimate senses of the body – touch, smell, taste – are rendered lesser, feminine, base, other. How they have used scent to access memory, both personal and ancestral, and how they create perfumes as a way both to remember trauma and to heal it. “After everything,” they tell us all, “the memory of scent remains.”

Indonesia, Malaysia boycott Frankfurt Book Fair after Palestinian voices ‘shut down’

Oct 19, 2023 / Arab News by Natalia Laskowska Sheany Yasuko Lai
Writers from Indonesia and Malaysia have stood in support of their countries’ decision to withdraw from the largest international book fair in Frankfurt following the organizer’s public support for Israel.

Both countries were ready to participate in the fair that started on Wednesday when an awards ceremony to celebrate Palestinian writer Adania Shibli was called off last week. Shibli was going to be honored with the prestigious LiBeraturpreis for her novel “Minor Detail,” which tells the true story of the rape and murder of a Palestinian girl by Israeli soldiers in 1949.

The cancelation of the award ceremony coincided with the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which started after the Gaza-based militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Bali’s Ubud begins 20th writers’ festival aimed at drawing 15,000 people

Oct 19, 2023 / Straits Times by Clement Yong
Bali’s cultural capital Ubud on Wednesday night welcomed more than 200 authors, journalists and activists to its annual Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, continuing a struggle against the erasure of Indonesian literature on the world stage and seeking to reverse the falling number of Indonesian readers.

The opening gala was attended by representatives of the Indonesian government and the Australian and United States’ diplomatic corps, who praised the festival for promoting “literacy, the freedom of expression and diversity”.

Hundreds crowded into the intimate forecourt of the historic Ubud Palace, which formed the backdrop for recitals, traditional dance performances and speeches.

IKAPI cancels participation in Frankfurt Book Fair over controversial Israel support

Oct 19, 2023 / Jakarta Post
The Indonesian Publishers Association (IKAPI) has announced the cancellation of its participation in the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), scheduled to take place from Oct. 18-22. The decision came after FBF director Juergen Boss asserted the organizer’s position of supporting Israel and providing a platform for Israeli writers. The FBF also announced the cancellation of the award ceremony for the novel Minor Detail by Palestinian writer Adania Shibli. In press release on its official website, IKAPI expressed its opposition to the FBF’s stance. Arys Hilman, chairman of IKAPI, also emphasized that no Indonesian attributes or flags would be displayed at the book fair.

IKAPI to Pull Out of Frankfurt Book Fair for Pro-Israel Stance

Oct 16, 2023 / Tempo English by Maria Fransisca Lahur
The Indonesian Publishers Association (Ikapi) announced that they are pulling out from participating in the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) that was scheduled for October 18 to 22, 2023. The head of Ikapi Arys Hilman mentioned that there will be no Indonesian attribute or Indonesian flag as well as Ikapi's presence during the fair even if the stand has been built.

Ikapi's statement was announced following FBF's statement through its Director Juergen Boos, to officially supported Israel, as shown in its official social media accounts and website."FBF announced that they condemned Hamas' terror toward Israel and will give more room for Israeli writers to speak up in FBF 2023," Arys said on Sunday.

UWRF reflects on past, present, future through literature and the arts in 20th anniversary

Oct 14, 2023 / Jakarta Post
The world's finest thinkers, writers and artists will gather in Ubud, Bali’s cultural capital, to explore the pressing issues confronting humanity at this moment, their historical roots and potential consequences.

Attention all literary, arts and current affairs enthusiasts! The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF), one of Southeast Asia's most esteemed literary festivals, has just announced its 20th-anniversary edition, scheduled to take place from Oct. 18 to 22, 2023.

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Unveils the Theme “Atita, Wartamana, Anagata: The Past, The Present, and The Future”

Oct 02, 2023 / Indonesia Expat
The Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati is proud to announce the return of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF), Southeast Asia’s flagship literary festival, for its 20th anniversary from 18th-22nd October 2023. Since its inception, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival has served as an essential forum for writers and readers to share their stories and engage in meaningful discussions. To mark this important milestone, the festival has chosen the theme Atita, Wartamana, Anagata: The Past, the Present, and the Future.

The theme is inspired by the Balinese concept of ‘Tri Semaya,’ which is the philosophical view of time as non-linear, circular and collective. It embodies the idea of Atita, Wartamana, Anagata (Past, Present, Future) as inseparable and existing simultaneously. The concept evokes a metaphysical representation of ‘being’ that goes beyond the life of a single individual. It places importance on balance and harmony that weaves a delicate thread that ties humanity together across time and space. It transcends individualism for our mutual sustenance from one generation to the next.

The theme of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival will manifest in a series of compelling programs that serve as a platform for dialogue and exchange. It will cover personal and collective history, spiritual rejuvenation, and the social, environmental, economic, and political contexts of our contemporary world.

Thousands Of English Literature Scripts Exhibited At Taman Ismail Marzuki

Sep 03, 2023 / VOI English
The DKI Jakarta Library and Archives Service (Disputip) presented thousands of manuscripts of Indonesian writer maestros at the HB Jassin Literature Documentation Center (PDS) Travel Exhibition entitled Ulang-Alik to the Past which lasted until September 17, 2023 at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) Jakarta.

The exhibition curator and literary archival activist Esha Tegar Putra said the exhibition concept was to determine HB Jassin's track record in documenting the history of literary development in Indonesia.

Full Program Announced for Ubud 2023

Aug 22, 2023 / Books+Publishing
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) has announced the full line-up for its 20th-anniversary festival program, which will run from 18–22 October 2023 in Ubud, Indonesia.

Australian and New Zealand speakers at the festival include authors Anna Funder, Geraldine Brooks, Leigh Sales, Behrouz Boochani, Annabel Crabb, Tracey Lien, André Dao, Kathryn Heyman, Adolfo Aranjuez and Broede Carmody; Melbourne Writers Festival program manager Sonia Nair; former New Zealand Poet Laureate Chris Tse; documentary producer Kirsti Melville; and academics Omid Tofighian and Edwin Jurriëns.

Wasafiri at Large: Indonesian Writers and Mental Health

Aug 09, 2023 / Wasafiri by Sebastian Partogi
In its inaugural year, Wasafiri was joined by five Editors at Large based in Southeast Asia and Aotearoa New Zealand. As part of our Wasafiri at Large series, each Editor at Large has shed a valuable light on their local literary scene.

Sebastian Partogi, our former Editor at Large – based in Indonesia at the time – writes about how more and more young writers from his country highlight mental health issues in their literary works. This examination on mental health themes in literature is conducted through an analysis of two emerging authors’ works, framed in a bigger sociopolitical and economic context.