25-30 September Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is one of the top literary events in the Asian region. In 2006, the Festival was named ‘one of the world’s great book events’ by Conde Nast Traveler and ‘among the top six literary Festivals in the world’ by Harper’s Bazaar.

The 2007 Festival will live up to this reputation with six days of rousing discussions, creative workshops, book launches, luscious literary lunches and dinners, a free children’s program plus poetry, theater, film, music and dance —an exhilarating program in one of the world’s most beautiful settings.

Featuring over 80 writers from 16 different countries, several Indonesia writers to attend in this event like are; Ahmad Tohari, Debra H Yatim, Julia Suryakusuma, Hamid Basyaib, Ratih Kumala, Isbedy Setiawan ZS, Wiratmadinata, Ratna Indraswari Ibrahim, Marhalim Zaini, Isman H Suryaman, Ida Wayan Oka Granoka, Ketut Sumarta, Gusti Ngurah Harta, Cok Sawitri and Ida bagus Agastya, including the winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize, Kiran Desai; the author of The Great Indian Novel, Shashi Tharoor; award-winning Australian author Richard Flanagan; forensic anthropologist and best-selling crime writer, Kathy Reichs; and exciting young Singaporean poet and countertenor, Cyril Wong.

The theme for the 2007 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival comes from the Balinese concept sekala niskala—the seen and the unseen. In Bali, the unseen refers to a dimension of invisible beings who are continuously honored with offerings in order to maintain harmony in the human realm. The unseen can be understood in many ways. It can mean simply the unknown—such as the list of questions facing modern science today—or it can mean concealed knowledge, with which people can be manipulated. It can refer to the numinous, the mysterium tremendum at fascinans that inspires religious experience. It could also refer to the subtler realm of human experience that is the eternal subject of literature—invisible forces that drive human action, such as fear, vanity, and the conscience. Such forces are sometimes symbolized by demons and deities.

The organizers to explained, “In this year’s Festival, we will explore the world of magical realism and discuss topics relating to the theme of Sekala-Niskala such as the natural environment and the impacts and causes, perceived and real, of the recent spate of natural disasters in the region. We will also discuss the influence of the paranormal in different societies and the ways in which people make contact with the unseen world. In Indonesia, a belief in the supernatural can be found through all levels of society. We will also examine the power of symbols, such as the Indonesian kris [dagger], with its hidden force and ability to take the place of the owner in certain situations, and the hijab [veil worn by Muslim women]: a symbol of modesty, privacy, and morality or of oppression?

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”. SA