Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2012

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2012 has chosen as its theme This Earth of Mankind: Bumi Manusia, from the title of an epic best selling book by one of Indonesia’s greatest contemporary writers, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. This Earth of Mankind is the first book in Pramoedya’s historical fiction series The Buru Quartet, first published by Hasta Mitra in 1980. The story is set at the end of Dutch colonial rule and was written while Pramoedya was a political prisoner on the island prison of Buru in eastern Indonesia. Pramoedya’s life on Buru was one of deprivation, hard labour and physical cruelty. Denied even the most rudimentary writing implements, he ingeniously narrated the work to his fellow prisoners, who communicated it throughout the prison population.

Building Communities through Music

By: Emma Kwee

Music brings people together. 'Music is the best tool to connect people. But more importantly, is what happens when you connect people with the same vision', Raoul Wijffels opened the panel discussion titled Building Communities through music during the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.

Besides him, the panel consisted of Mohamed Marzuki form the Yogyakarta Hip Hop Foundation, Julien and Srey Thy from the band The Cambodian Space Project and Anom Arsana, a Balinese sound engineer who opened the Antida Studio and venue in Denpasar. Very different people, with different approaches, that each in their own way demonstrated the power music has in bringing people together.

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival: First Impressions

By: Emma Kwee

The Ubud Readers and Writers Festival is a yearly event that brings pen handlers, readers and critics from all over the world to Bali. Arriving in Ubud, the banners on the side of the road, suggested that this is no intimate tea party, but an extremely well organized festival. The program I leafed through only furthered that impression. From 5 until 9 October over 40 venues in and around Yoga capital Ubud are the scene of seminars, panel discussions, book presentations, workshops and art performances/exhibitions.