Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) is an annual 4-day literary festival held every October in

Ubud Ubud is a town on the Indonesian island of Bali in Ubud District, located amongst rice paddies and steep ravines in the central foothills of the Gianyar regency. Promoted as an arts and culture centre, it has developed a large tourism industry ...

on the island of

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. Established in 2004, it is considered

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

’s biggest and most meaningful

literary Festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings ...

. It hosts up to 170 writers and artists from all corners of the world. Discussions on cultural, literary and political issues are held alongside book launches, film premieres, long-table lunches, workshops, readings, live music, village walks and performances. It is organised by the

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

foundation Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati.

History

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival was first conceived by

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

-born Janet DeNeefe, co-founder of the Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati, together with her native Balinese husband Ketut Suardana, and their daughter Laksmi DeNeefe Suardana as a healing project in response to the first

2002 Bali bombings The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people of more than 20 other national ...

. It was first held in 2004 as part of an effort to help revive tourism, the island’s main economic lifeline after terrorist bombings devastated the island’s

Kuta Kuta is a tourist area, administratively an urban village (''kelurahan''), and the capital of Kuta District, Badung Regency, southern Bali, Indonesia. A former fishing village, it was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist de ...

district a year earlier. Since 2019, the Festival’s

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Edition, presented in partnership with Writing WA, has provided an annual forum to exchange views with writers and creators from both countries on a wide range of topics. After two years in virtual form in 2020 and 2021, the Perth Edition was held in person again in the Rechabite Hall in the Australian city of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

between 21–23 October 2022.

Description

The Festival is known as the biggest Festival of words and ideas in Southeast Asia, in which many celebrated writers, artists, thinkers, and performers participate. In 2019 the Festival was named one of the top five literary festivals in the world by

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

in the UK, and in 2022, it was chosen as one of the prime cultural festivals in autumn by

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

Chronology

* 2015: The 12th edition of UWRF was held in 2015 in 38 venues across Bali, in which more than 200 writers from all over the world took part. A controversy was raised over the proposed discussion about Indonesia's anti-communist purges that killed an estimated 500,000 people in 1965. *2016: The 13th edition of UWRF was held in 2016, attended by 160 of the world’s leading authors, artists and performers. *2017: The 2017 UWRF was the 14th edition of the festival, which was held from 25 October to 29 October participated by more than 150 authors, artists and activists from 31 countries. *2018: The 15th edition of UWRF was held from 24 October to 28 October 2018, focusing on

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

and diversity. *2019: The theme of the 16th edition, held from 23 October to 27 October 2019, was ''

Karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively ...

''. 180 speakers from 30 countries participated in the Festival. There were more than 170 programs, including panel discussions of various issues, film screenings, art exhibitions, book launches and writing workshops. *2020: The 2020 Festival, which was planned to be held from 29 October to 8 November 2020, was postponed because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The theme was proposed to be called ''Kembali''. *2021: In 2021, the inaugural Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Perth (UWRF Perth) is scheduled to be held on 8–10 October in

, Western Australia, organised in partnership with Writing WA and overlapping with the Bali event, which is scheduled to run from 8–17 October. *2022: After two years of being held online and hybrid, the 19th edition of the Festival was held again fully in person from 27 October to 30 October 2022 with more than 150 writers and thinkers. The Festival’s theme ''Memayu Hayuning Bawana'' centred around humanity’s capacity to strengthen the ties between individuals and our world.

References

External links

*{{official, https://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/ Literary festivals in Indonesia Annual events in Indonesia Tourist attractions in Bali Recurring events established in 2004

History

Description

Chronology

See also

References

External links