Ubud Festival authors announced

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) has announced the first round of authors appearing in its 2015 program, which runs from 28 October to 1 November in Bali, Indonesia.

International headliners include Chinese-American memoirist Anchee Min; Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid (How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Hamish Hamilton); and Nigerian novelist Chigozie Obioma (The Fishermen, Scribe); as well as Australian authors Nam Le (The Boat, Penguin) and Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project, Text) and Lonely Planet founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler.

Other guests include Stella Prize-winning author Emily Bitto (The Strays, Affirm), Miles Franklin Award-winning author Sofie Laguna (The Eye of the Sheep, A&U), North Korean defector Hyeonseo Lee and Palestinian scholar Mazin Qumsiyeh.

Local speakers include writer Putu Oka Sukanta, filmmaker Nia Dinata and short-story writer and political journalist Seno Gumira Ajidarma.

The 12th annual festival explores the theme ‘17,000 Islands of Imagination’. The full program will be released on the UWRF website on 19 August. Early-bird tickets are on sale now.