Ubud Writer’s Festival – Update: Ubud, Bali

Although scheduled for 25th-30th September, the Ubud Writer’s Festival is, without a doubt, one of the greatest events on the island of Bali. Now in its fourth year, the festival attracts visitors and literary giants from around the globe.

I receive regular updates and here’s the latest in news:

The theme for this year’s Festival comes from the Balinese concept Sekala Niskala, which means the The Seen & Unseen. This is very exciting for us as it allows us to explore the world of magical realism and discuss some very interesting topics such as the environment, world religions, mysticism and the power of the paranormal. We hope that this year’s Festival will leave guests and participants with a deeper appreciation of ideas which, at first, seem to separate us, but in fact connect us.

Meanwhile, our hearts were swollen with pride when we saw the February issue of the UK edition of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, which rated us as one of the best six literary festivals in the world. Here’s their delicious appraisal: ‘This jungley mountain outpost at the centre of the island makes for a very hospitable welcome. Between ultra-chilled discussions, shop for fresh vanilla pods and exotic spices; or eat alongside writers such as Anita Desai and William Dalrymple at the Indus Restaurant with its majestic views of Mount Agung’s volcano amid wide paddy fields’.

Now in its fourth year, the Festival is spreading its wings wider to include writers from Pakistan, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and Egypt. Our Chinese and Japanese neighbours will also be joining us for the first time.

A sneak preview of guests joining us in 2007 include; Kiran Desai, winner of the 2006 Man Booker prize; Shashi Tharoor, UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Information; Su Tong of Raise the Red Lantern fame; ‘Australian of the Year’ Tim Flannery; the ‘enfant terrible of Pakistani literature’, Mohsin Hamid; and the glamorous Joumana Haddad from Lebanon.

And if you’re in Bali in September… the Festival is delighted to announce it will be hosting the acclaimed travel writer, Pico Iyer, at an exclusive Literary Dinner in June.

Describing himself as ‘a global village of legs’ Pico is regarded as one of the most eloquent and incisive observers of the emerging global culture. The Festival has invited Pico to dinner in Bali, following on from his appearance at the Sydney Writers’ Festival in Australia, so he can entertain us all with stories of his many journeys. Pico will also hold a seminar on travel writing for any of you aspiring writers out there.

For aspiring writers, acclaimed Australian writer and creative writing guru, Patti Miller, will be running a 5-day writing workshop immediately following this year’s Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. The workshop will take place from the 1-5 October. Full details will be released next month, so keep your eyes open as we expect this one to be extremely popular.

With an exciting new Steering Committee on board in 2007, look forward to a fresh new Festival style and program and get ready for stories, celebrations, flavours and ultra-chilled discussions in this jungley mountain outpost at the centre of the island [world?].