Ubud Writers & Readers Festival

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is an event held in the central Bali town of Ubud that celebrates all things about literature, reading, writing, film and culture.

The festival is the brainchild of Janet De Neefe, an Australian-born woman who envisioned a literary space where talented artists could express themselves.

The event was spurred on by the Bali bombings in 2002, which triggered Janet into action. Janet wanted the world to see that Bali could still move on after the bombings and, with this, she set off to set up the festival.

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is a yearly pilgrimage for experts and lovers of the literary world, ranging from readers, authors, musicians and chefs. There are a number of workshops and classes held throughout the festival where writers can hone their skills and get feedback from experts in the field.

From 27-30 October 2022, writers, artists, activists, and performers from Indonesia and beyond will converge for the 19th UWRF to share stories and ideas exploring this year’s theme: Uniting Humanity.

This year’s theme is ‘Memayu Hayuning Bawana‘, an ancient Javanese philosophy that means the principles by which we care for, protect, and beautify our universe.

Bawana refers to ‘our world’, which is not only a physical space but also a cultural and deeply spiritual realm. ‘Memayu’ is the way we sustain the beautification of our planet on our eternal path to universal harmony. UWRF translates this philosophy into ‘Uniting Humanity‘, which will unfold as a series of programs responding to Humanity’s capacity to strengthen our ties as individuals and the world as a collective.

The main festival events take place on Jalan Raya Sanggingan, just 5 minutes from the Ubud town centre. Each year the program is spread out over a number of venues including Taman Baca, Indus Restaurant and Neka Museum. But there are also a number of other events scheduled in and around Ubud.

Most sessions will be held in English, Indonesian or bilingual. Translators will be present in most sessions.