Ubud Writers & Readers Festival first line-up announced
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival has announced the first line-up for the program set to run 21 to 25 October 2026 in Bali, Indonesia.
This year’s festival theme is “Samarasā: Awareness. Empathy. Action.”, which originates from Sanskrit philosophy and emphasises the harmony between Citta (mind), Rasa (heart) and Karsa (action).
“It invites reflection on how thought, feeling, and action can exist in harmony, with awareness bringing clarity, empathy building connection, and action turning insight into purpose,” said the festival.
Guest speakers include Indian author Kiran Desai, Malaysian author Tash Aw, US author and journalist Katie Kitamura, Nepalese American designer Prabal Gurung, Palestinian author Adania Shibli, Pakistani author Fatima Bhutto, and Australian professor of ecology and conservation biologist David Lindenmayer. Indonesian guest speakers include journalist and filmmaker Dandhy Laksono, author Dian Purnomo, writer and historian Raisa Kamila, author and songwriter Valiant Budi, poet Cyntha Hariadi, and history researcher Louie Buana.
The festival will feature Australian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, who won the Victorian Premier’s People’s Choice Award for Discipline (University of Queensland Press). The novel, which “explores who has the right to tell stories and whose voices are heard”, had “sparked significant debate when Abdel-Fattah was disinvited from Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2026, triggering an extraordinary show of solidarity with more than 180 writers withdrawing and the entire festival being cancelled,” said the festival.
“The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival continues to be a beacon for extraordinary stories and brave voices from Indonesia and across the globe,” said festival founder and director Janet DeNeefe. “This year’s line-up represents the very best of what we stand for, diversity, courage and the transformative power of words.”
Prior to the main festival, a writers’ retreat on 18 to 20 October will be led by Zimbabwean author and journalist Peter Godwin for writers of memoir and narrative nonfiction, while Hong Kong author Xu Xi is set to lead a retreat on 19 to 20 October exploring Asian narratives and universal storytelling.
More information is available on the festival website.
Category: Festivals Local news
