Ubud Writers Readers Festival 2017

November 01, 2017

Ubud Writers Readers Festival 2017

The past weekend was the time of the year for book lovers locally and internationally. It was the 14th annual Ubud Writers Readers Festival (UWRF). Those who haven't heard of this event, do check them out http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/ UWRF is where bunch of authors, artists, thinkers, and performers come together. I call it inspiring and interesting minds get-together.

To be honest, even though I lived in Bali for a long time, this was the first time I attended the festival. I never had time before, and also I went abroad for years to study. Even this year, I could only attended the fourth day which was on Sunday. Hopefully next year I got time for the 4-day pass.

There were various activities going on there. Workshops, panels, food testing, book launch, bazaar, musical performances, etc. If you purchase the main program pass, you could attend all the interesting panelists talking about literature, inspirations, books, wicked experiences, even politics as well. If you're interested to join the workshops, you should purchase separate tickets for each workshop. The rest of the events are free.

So I purchased 1 day pass for October 29th (Sunday). I started the day early to check out the main programs from the beginning. There were numbers of sessions going on at the same time at three different venues so I had to chose what interested me the most. And I went for Ben Sohib session, The Founders, Pierre Coffin session, Ian Rankin and Jock Serong for the crime fiction club, and lastly I went for Lost For Words session in which two young writers from different background talked about how and why they chose the language they used (one chose Indonesian, the other one Balinese).

Ben Sohib is the author of Da Peci Code. He was supposed to be funny, but apparently not so much that day. I didn't know if its the language barrier that cause that or because the topic was quite political. I didn't think he explained what's in his mind well enough. But still, it was interesting and he read a short story he wrote which was hilarious. Everyone clapped.
We came from the same background as Arab Indonesian, so it was interesting to see his point of view on the current issue which was the role of Islam in politics. Honestly, he didn't say much other than stating one side is bad and the other is good. Everyone knows it's way lot more complicated than that.

it was 9 a.m when Ben Sohib had his session

Ben Sohib session was held at Indus Restaurant. For the next event, The Founders, my friend and I went to Taman Baca, just a building away from Indus. There were 4 accomplished panelists for the session. Bernice Chauly, author and festival director of the George Town Literary Festival in Malaysia. Nila Tanzil, founder of Taman Bacaan Pelangi in which she built libraries in some of eastern Indonesia's most remote areas. Lulu Lutfi Labibi, a famous young designer specialized in traditional textile. And last but not least, Niluh Djelantik, a widely famous shoe designer in Bali whom recently got more exposure due to her current attempts in commenting about Indonesian politics in not so subtle way.

The Founders session

All four of them shared interesting stories. I could tell Nila Tanzil got more spotlight because of her amazing works building children libraries in places no one thought possible. She built one in Jayawijaya! But to be honest, among all four, Bernice Chauly was the one interested me the most. She didn't talk much. Not as much as Niluh Djelantik, definitely. She told us an intense story about when one of her panelists got arrested during her literary festival in Penang, Malaysia. When the session was over, she was the one I looked up on the internet first. If I could, I'll get one of her books.

During The Founders session, I got the chance to ask one question. The question that I always ask whenever I encountered inspiring people; what's your favorite book(s)?
Bernice Chauly answered, for her love of poetry, Aku by Chairil Anwar. Nila Tanzil loves Tintin series and Paulo Coelho's. Lulu Lutfi Labibi said cooking books and Dewi Dee Lestari's. And Niluh Djelantik, not forgetting to emphasis that her house is full of books, said that she just reread a Hindu book that I didn't catch but apparently something about happiness.

Finally, done with The Founders, I went to Neka museum in which another session held. It was Pierre Coffin. Those who don't know, Pierre Coffin is the guy behind Minions. He's the director, the creator, as well as the voice of minions. He's naturally funny. He told us the process of how Minions were made, the obstacles, and all. His session was so enjoyable. Too bad when us, the audience, asked him to do Minions voice he refused. He said it's not that simple, he had to go thru torturing process to get the voice. Well, his humor make up for it. Plus, I got to take picture with him! Thanks to my friend whose mother is the founder of UWRF.

During Pierre Coffin session. On the bottom right is Nh. Dini, Indonesian feminist and author in the old time, who is actually Pierre's mother.

After Pierre Coffin, immediately Crime Fiction Club was held at the same venue. The panelists were Jock Serong and Ian Rankin. Ian Rankin! All the way from Scotland! They both wrote crime fiction books and told us funny stories writing that genre. One time, a guy had to explain to Jock Serong in a very elaborated way on how to sink his own boat! That same guy told Serong where in the boat he could possibly hide dead body. He even gave ideas on which tools on the boat could be used as weapon! Oh, man. Ways to write crime fiction books could be so weird.

another full house session during Crime Fiction Club with Ian Rankin and Jock Serong

The final session that I attended was Lost For Words. This time, no big names showed up but two emerging writers who were so talented I got inspired. They were so young, possibly teenagers. Both of them, Putu from Bali and Na'ima from Java, talked about the language that they grew up with and how it affects their works. They also talked about 'Englishification' these days and whether their traditional language (Balinese and Javanese) will eventually extinct. At one point, Putu did an impromptu poem reading using Balinese language! Kudos to both of them. They deserved more recognition.

Na'ima and Putu sharing their thoughts on languages

A closing ceremony was held that night at the Blanco Museum. Too bad I couldn't attend. I had works to do before Monday comes and Ubud isn't that close from where I live. Although I didn't go for any music performances, I really enjoyed my day at the UWRF 2017. You could tell by how long this blogpost is.