Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2010

HARMONY IN DIVERSITY
BHINNEKA TUNGGAL IKA
UBUD, BALI
October 6-10, 2010

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN. Time to buy your air tickets and book your hotel accommodation. Time for nasi campur, babi guling and bebik bengil, and the soothing sounds of gamelan in the distant hills. And yes, time to bring your books to Ubud, Bali, to get them signed and listen to authors talk about books and the writing process. For those of us who love books and all things bookish in this part of the world, this is the place to be come October 2010.

The theme of the 2010 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika: Harmony in Diversity,’ the Indonesian national motto originating from the Sutasoma, advocates respect between all people, across religious, ethnic and social diversity. 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. You’ll hear about life and literature in Australia, Bosnia, Burma (Myanmar), Canada, China, Croatia, Djibouti, East Timor, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Kashmir, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the UK, the US and Vietnam, as well as having a unique opportunity to meet writers from over ten provinces of Indonesia.

Expand into the world of writers and writing. You won’t only find the finest voices writing in fiction and poetry today. You’ll see filmmakers, photographers, artists and performers. You’ll hear social commentators, frontline journalists, cultural activists and political observers. The best contemporary thinkers from around the world come together to give their take on the complex, rich and interconnected world in which we dwell.

This years’s headliners include Ma Jian (Beijing Coma, Stick Out Your Tongue, Red Dust: A Path Through China), Man Booker Prize-winner Anne Enright (The Gathering), Tash Aw (The Harmony Silk Factory), William Dalrymple (Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, The Last Mughal), Commonwealth Writers’ Prize-winning Albert Wendt (The Adventures of Vela), Nam Le (The Boat), Booker Prize-winner Thomas Kenneally (Schindler’s Ark), Karen Connelly (The Lizard Cage), Frank Moorhouse (Dark Palace), Rabih Alameddine (The Hakawati), Shani Mootoo (Valmiki’s Daughter, Cereus Blooms at Night), Cate Kennedy (The World Beneath), Tabish Khair (Filming and The Bus Stopped), Joan London (Gilgamesh, The Good Parents), Shamini Flint, Rachel Kushner (Telex from Cuba), Ali Eteraz (Children of Dust), Basharat Peer (Curfewed Night: A Frontline Memoir of Life, Love and War in Kashmir), Etgar Keret (The Girl on the Fridge), Abdourahman Waberi (The Land Without Shadows) and Philip Jeyaretnam (Raffles Place Ragtime).

Joining this impressive roster of headliners are Kate Adie, Dewi Lestari, Sitor Sitimorang, Jennifer Byrne, Sophie Cunningham, Shane Maloney, Zakes Mda, Lisa Teasley, Suad Amiry, Shane Maloney, Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap), Perihan Magden (The Messenger Boy Murders), Ioannis Gatsiounis (Velvet & Cinder Blocks), Antony Loewenstein, Zhang Su Li (A Backpack and A Bit of Luck) and Brian Gomez (Devil’s Place), among others.