TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Lombok Writers Festival 2022, a celebration for NTB's young writers
Taking place in Gili Trawangan, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), the Lombok Writers Festival 2022 was officially held on March 9 to 10.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Zulkieflimansyah (left) and IDN Times editor-in-chief Uni Lubis pose together on the first day of Lombok Writers Festival 2022. (Handout/Courtesy of Lombok Writers Festival 2022) (Handout/Courtesy of Lombok Writers Festival 2022)
Taking place in Gili Trawangan, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Lombok Writers Festival 2022 was officially held on March 9 to 10.
The festival, organized by the digital news platform IDN Times, opened on Wednesday with remarks from NTB Governor Zulkieflimansyah, IDN Times editor-in-chief Uni Lubis and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir — the latter giving his speech virtually.
Born from an idea shared by Zulkieflimansyah and IDN Times, the writing festival was a spin-off of the annual Indonesia Writers Festival (IWF). It was held with the aim of providing training related to content production and optimization, especially for young Indonesians in NTB.
Bringing the theme #ExplorAsikNTB (explore NTB joyfully), Lombok Writers Festival 2022 invited young writers to promote NTB through workshops and writing competitions.
The two-day event saw various participants made up of local high schools and university students, from State Vocational High School (SMK) 2 Tanjung to Muhamaddiyah Mataram University.
“The hope is that Lombok Writers Festival can become a regular event in NTB and will train more young Indonesians to become writers who are able to present the many events that happen in NTB,” Zulkieflimansyah said in his speech.
Meanwhile, Uni Lubis said the festival was a public literacy effort. “[It is] a learning space for young Indonesians, especially in NTB, so that they are able to promote the potential of NTB through writing.”
“The role of writers in the era of technological transformation and digitalization is very much needed, especially in the creative industries," Erick Thohir said during his speech. He also hoped that the participants could write productively about Lombok, especially Mandalika’s Pertamina International Circuit. The region will stage the 2022 MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix, which will be held from March 18 to 20.
Lombok Writers Festival 2022 also included talk shows throughout its two-day runtime from speakers including culinary creator and food author Kevindra Soemantri and famed travel writer Trinity.
The entire festival is accessible to watch on IDN Times’ YouTube channel.
