2011
Already Day 3 of the Festival
5 October 2011
‘Tis the morning of Day 3 of the festival - the pace is so hectic I cannot see how I will survive the next two days - but it is all so exciting and I can't miss a minute. Anyway, I can always collapse afterwards! Yesterday was a mammoth 15 hours, with only a couple of short breaks - and lots of walks between venues. Thank god it is unusually cool for this time of year. One of the highlights so far was DBC Pierre, the "naughty boy" of literature who won the Booker with Vernon God Little (must read it at last!) ten or so years ago. He has settled down a lot now, and talking of his misspent youth so often must sound to him like it all happened to some character in a book. Our ABC TV’s Jennifer Byrne interviewed him beautifully - she is so natural and chatty, as anyone who watches First Tuesday Book club knows.
Another was a Nigerian writer Chris Abani, who has come out of a ghastly prison experience in his oppressive homeland to be a truly liberal and generous human being. Now lives and writes in the US. I missed part of his talk but wished I'd heard it all. And also Tariq Ali, the fiercely intellectual, atheist Pakistani-born, Oxford-educated Guardian journalist who has written a book which is down on Obama's presidency. The American academic, Janet Steele, a woman always here at the Ubud festival, who interviewed him, was just as brilliant, but rather anxious in her questions about all the negativity towards her president. I love these political sessions.
But by far the most stimulating session was with Andrew Fowler, an ABC Four Corners journalist, on his book about Julian Assange. He was so reasoned and in charge of the facts about Assange's Wikileaks and how important it is to us all to have such openness when our governments try to hide things from us in the name of national security - and why Bradley Manning ("if indeed it was him") who leaked the diplomatic cables, may have done what he did. We Aussies were with the speaker (and his Australian interviewer) all the way - almost cheering when he made a point. The only dissenting remark came from an American journalist in a question from the floor. I rushed to buy the book, The Most Dangerous Man in the World, but it costs $50 here. Got to be cheaper back in Oz!!
Loved the sessions with Indonesia's very famous eccentric writer and dramatist, Putu Wijaya, who was born Balinese but sees nothing Balinese in himself. The theme of the festival is a Balinese concept "Cultivate the Land Within" so lots of talk of relationship to place and culture. Putu likes to write his characters as nameless, ageless, featureless, with no ethnicity too - "flat" characters so the story is more important and the reader can imagine him/her as they like. He was on a panel with Andrea Hirata, one of the biggest selling contemporary writers (Laskar Pelangi -The Rainbow Troops) and photographer Rio Helmi. Any of you with picture books on Indonesia - or has ever bought a postcard here - they're sure to be Rio's. (I taught his Australian daughter, Leilani, Indonesian back at Sydney Girls High twenty years ago.)
Another was a Nigerian writer Chris Abani, who has come out of a ghastly prison experience in his oppressive homeland to be a truly liberal and generous human being. Now lives and writes in the US. I missed part of his talk but wished I'd heard it all. And also Tariq Ali, the fiercely intellectual, atheist Pakistani-born, Oxford-educated Guardian journalist who has written a book which is down on Obama's presidency. The American academic, Janet Steele, a woman always here at the Ubud festival, who interviewed him, was just as brilliant, but rather anxious in her questions about all the negativity towards her president. I love these political sessions.
But by far the most stimulating session was with Andrew Fowler, an ABC Four Corners journalist, on his book about Julian Assange. He was so reasoned and in charge of the facts about Assange's Wikileaks and how important it is to us all to have such openness when our governments try to hide things from us in the name of national security - and why Bradley Manning ("if indeed it was him") who leaked the diplomatic cables, may have done what he did. We Aussies were with the speaker (and his Australian interviewer) all the way - almost cheering when he made a point. The only dissenting remark came from an American journalist in a question from the floor. I rushed to buy the book, The Most Dangerous Man in the World, but it costs $50 here. Got to be cheaper back in Oz!!
Loved the sessions with Indonesia's very famous eccentric writer and dramatist, Putu Wijaya, who was born Balinese but sees nothing Balinese in himself. The theme of the festival is a Balinese concept "Cultivate the Land Within" so lots of talk of relationship to place and culture. Putu likes to write his characters as nameless, ageless, featureless, with no ethnicity too - "flat" characters so the story is more important and the reader can imagine him/her as they like. He was on a panel with Andrea Hirata, one of the biggest selling contemporary writers (Laskar Pelangi -The Rainbow Troops) and photographer Rio Helmi. Any of you with picture books on Indonesia - or has ever bought a postcard here - they're sure to be Rio's. (I taught his Australian daughter, Leilani, Indonesian back at Sydney Girls High twenty years ago.)
Great panel of Indian writers too. And a most unusual session (for me!) on horror/ ghost story writing which I only went to as it had the hilarious Hong Kong-based writer of Feng Shui detective stories, Nuri Vittachi on the panel. He is a regular highlight of Ubud festivals, except for last year - and a genius comic. Tiny, short, bald man - almost gnome-like, Sri Lankan born, English educated. There are so many trans-national writers here - people who don't belong in any one culture or tradition, or live in the country they were born in - or write in their native language. The weirdest and funniest is an Iraqi refugee comic writer and poet who speaks Dutch! And Dutch accented English! I have only met one of the young Indonesian writers I have translated so far - and have not got my copies of the publication yet- but I will attend a session with them today and meet them then.
Lovely local Ubud book club breakfast with Alex Miller, a leading Australian writer - and a Pakistani/English writer - strange duo but it worked OK. Miller is very dry but still amusing and worth listening to. Not as good as last year with Louis de Bernières and Cate Kennedy. Cathy asked Miller for a photo and he refused, saying she would have to pay him $60 - she was not impressed. I did not hear this exchange and took one anyway!! Great food and setting at Three Monkey's Cafe.
Lovely local Ubud book club breakfast with Alex Miller, a leading Australian writer - and a Pakistani/English writer - strange duo but it worked OK. Miller is very dry but still amusing and worth listening to. Not as good as last year with Louis de Bernières and Cate Kennedy. Cathy asked Miller for a photo and he refused, saying she would have to pay him $60 - she was not impressed. I did not hear this exchange and took one anyway!! Great food and setting at Three Monkey's Cafe.
A couple of excellent book launches too - how do I fit all this in??? I bought them both. One book is a photographic study of the ogoh-ogoh monsters I see at Bali’s Lunar New Year when I am here in March. (Cathy took one look at the book and was horrified by their monstrosity but they are great works of art too!) The other, written by an expat writer here in Bali, is about the year that the French poet Rimbaud spent in Java in 1876 when he gave up writing poetry and ran away to join the Dutch army here. Much of the story is imagined as there is little known fact. Looking forward to reading it.