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UWRF unveils 2024 program, featuring over 200 authors, artists, activists
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(Courtesy of Ubud Writers & Readers Festival)
T
he Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) has released its main program for its latest edition, which features a lineup of authors, journalists, artists and activists over its four-day run.
Now in its 21st iteration, UWRF 2024 explores the theme “Satyam Vada Dharmam Chara: Speak the Truth, Practice Kindness”, and runs from Oct. 23 to 27 at various venues across the town of Ubud, located in the verdant hills of central Bali.
This year’s program includes the popular In Conversation and spoken word series, panel discussions, literary dinners, cultural tours and performances, late-night readings and live music, as well as book launches and workshops.
Maria Ressa, corecipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, is slated to speak about the impacts of social media and AI on journalism and the need for ethical and unbiased news in a fractured world.
Soesilo Toer will lead a discussion on his late brother, renowned author and intellectual Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who was a political prisoner under both Dutch colonial rule and the postindependence Indonesian government for his progressive beliefs.
Human rights lawyer Sara M. Saleh will explore the challenges women face in conflict zones, while Myanmar dissident writer Ma Thida will discuss her country’s struggles and the complex relationship between borders, migration and human rights. Maltese journalist Paul Caruana Galizia will share insights on the impact of his journalist mother’s assassination and how her reporting may have saved Malta from becoming a mafia state.
Literary icon and Tempo magazine founder Goenawan Mohamad, journalist and activist Ayu Utami, geopolitics expert Ben Bland and professor of Indonesian-Malaysian media Janet Steele are set to provide deep and incisive analyses on the legacy of outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and what to expect from the incoming administration of Prabowo Subianto.
Balinese regional lawmaker Niluh Djelantik will host a discussion with academic researchers Agung Wardana and I Nyoman Gede Mahaputra on the island province’s growing tourism and look at ways to build a more inclusive, empowered society while addressing the challenges of sustainable tourism.
UWRF 2024 is holding a free screening of The Exiles, a 2022 documentary by Lola Amaria, and Basri & Salma in a Never-ending Comedy, a 2023 comedy drama by Khozy Rizal, with both directors joining the screening.
Festivalgoers can also look forward to live shows featuring musicians Sal Priadi and Petra Sihombing, as well as Dutch-Indonesian duo BOI AKIH.
