2012
Festival News
10 October 2012
Back home at Josh's, back to earth, but head still buzzing which is why I am awake at 3.30 writing. The others will be soon landing back in Sydney while I have until next Saturday night with Josh and Jasmin, then the three of us fly back together. This email will be a bit ‘stream of consciousness’ as the festival is over and the events, panels, personalities, parties, book launches, etc. of the previous five days are no longer an orderly program in my head, but rather a jumble of impressions. Since losing the emails written in the midst of it all, I have felt very daunted about how and where to begin writing about it again. May take me days.
It was all wonderful, as always - Ubud turned into a carnival site with festival banners at every venue, hordes of people beating a path between them, a general mood of pleasure and excitement. Anne, Hilary and Pam just loved it and lapped up the whole festive scene and the ideas, discussions and performances from dawn to dusk just as I love to do. We all got sick at some point - Anne, then Hilary, then me falling prey to the ghastly Bali Belly one day after the other, and Pam stoically dealing with a heavy cold throughout. The gastro attacks were only at their worst for 24 hours but left each of us fragile and weak for the following couple of days. There was a lot of it about it seems. But of course, once we were able to venture away from the bathroom for at least an hour we were back in the saddle. I could not bear to miss anything, so struggled out to hear Ramos-Horta the first morning after a hideous sleepless night. And of course I had my own panel, "Found in Translation" that first day too. Was only able to deal with it by taking a nap on a public bench in the foyer the hour before and finally managing to down a bottle of Pokari Sweat sports drink with electrolytes. The audience had no idea I had been at death's door a few hours earlier.
It was all wonderful, as always - Ubud turned into a carnival site with festival banners at every venue, hordes of people beating a path between them, a general mood of pleasure and excitement. Anne, Hilary and Pam just loved it and lapped up the whole festive scene and the ideas, discussions and performances from dawn to dusk just as I love to do. We all got sick at some point - Anne, then Hilary, then me falling prey to the ghastly Bali Belly one day after the other, and Pam stoically dealing with a heavy cold throughout. The gastro attacks were only at their worst for 24 hours but left each of us fragile and weak for the following couple of days. There was a lot of it about it seems. But of course, once we were able to venture away from the bathroom for at least an hour we were back in the saddle. I could not bear to miss anything, so struggled out to hear Ramos-Horta the first morning after a hideous sleepless night. And of course I had my own panel, "Found in Translation" that first day too. Was only able to deal with it by taking a nap on a public bench in the foyer the hour before and finally managing to down a bottle of Pokari Sweat sports drink with electrolytes. The audience had no idea I had been at death's door a few hours earlier.
By all accounts the translation panel was a great success. Lots of people came up to me in the following days to say how interesting they had found the discussion on issues of translation, even though they had no background in the field. Josh came along too, and was very proud of his Mama up there on the podium. My first time speaking to the general festival audience. I had chatted with Adrian, Sydney University professor who was the moderator, before we started and alerted him to the issues I considered important and he threw the relevant questions my way. A German woman from the Goethe Institute in Jakarta sought me out to say she had been inspired by what I had said (I wish I could remember what it was!!) to seek more translated works into German, and that I was ‘down to earth’. (I can do ‘down to earth’ really well - my success as a teacher has depended on it!!) One of the panelists was Debra Yatim, the wonderful Indonesian woman who translates the poetry for the festival that none of the rest of us will do. She writes her own poetry in English too. I knew her from a film I used to show my students 25 years ago when Debra was a passionate young journalist / activist. John McGlynn, Lontar publisher, was on the panel too. He is the true expert in the field and totally dedicated
On Saturday night Lontar held an event to celebrate its 25th birthday and launch of ten more translated novels in the Modern Library of Indonesia series, (of which mine, Mirah of Banda is one). I bought a couple and had them signed by the authors present. There was a little enactment of a story, largely in dialogue form, of a homesick Indonesian in New York and his older American lover. It was a great evening. Much more so than the Australian Embassy reception which was crowded - I suspect my total lack of interest in the food and wine was the main reason I left after half an hour though. Tried to get in to join the others watching the Pilger film showing at a venue down in the centre of Ubud but too full. So I sat alone for a blissful hour in peaceful gardens, surrounded by the night (writing one of the emails that got lost the next morning!)
On Saturday night Lontar held an event to celebrate its 25th birthday and launch of ten more translated novels in the Modern Library of Indonesia series, (of which mine, Mirah of Banda is one). I bought a couple and had them signed by the authors present. There was a little enactment of a story, largely in dialogue form, of a homesick Indonesian in New York and his older American lover. It was a great evening. Much more so than the Australian Embassy reception which was crowded - I suspect my total lack of interest in the food and wine was the main reason I left after half an hour though. Tried to get in to join the others watching the Pilger film showing at a venue down in the centre of Ubud but too full. So I sat alone for a blissful hour in peaceful gardens, surrounded by the night (writing one of the emails that got lost the next morning!)
Met so many old friends - festival goers like me, expats who live here in Ubud, and Australian friends like Pam Allen from Tasmania whom I see more often in Indonesia than I do in Australia. For the first few days I only got to see her in passing, tantalising hellos, or SMS messages, but no time to chat as we were in different sessions or heading in opposite directions. Have since caught up, and she and Roger will come to dinner tomorrow night.
Some of the highlights -and there were plenty! If I don't try to tell it all in one email I'll not be so daunted.
John Pilger of course. His beautiful, modulated voice of reason reminding us all yet again how important truth and independence of the media is. He and his interviewer did not always see eye to eye, esp. on whether Julian Assange should face the music in Sweden - Pilger explained why he really does have cause to fear extradition to the US. We Aussies in the packed audience cheered throughout.
Ramos-Horta too. Heard him twice, both in his own session and at an excellent 5-star hotel lunch, being interviewed by Shamini. She had done tremendous research, and managed to get both personal and political responses from him. When asked about the traumatic after effects of the assassination attempt on him and whether he has nightmares, he said, no - the only thing he has nightmares about is John Howard. (I have them too!) He is the consummate diplomat in all questions relating to Timorese relations to Indonesia and is constantly promoting the message of reconciliation rather than retributive justice for the crimes committed against the Timorese people. It will be interesting to see what role he will play in Timor in future, now he is no longer President.
Anna Funder, prize winning Australian author of Stasiland and All That I Am. I am reading the latter myself at the moment. She is absolutely beautiful and charming and seems not to be affected in the slightest by her fame. Heard her speak twice too.
Kopano Matlwa. You will never have heard of her but one day she will be a very big name in the advancement of South Africa. She is a 27-year old absolutely stunning black girl, a doctor, currently a Rhodes scholar at Oxford and author of two books, Coconut for which she won a literary competition in her teens, and Spilt Milk. Heard her speak on a panel and also serendipitously, at the Ubud Book Club breakfast for which we had booked without any idea who the author was. She was interviewed by Kerry, my friend at Trivia, who was excellent, though Kopano spoke with such ease and charm she did not need drawing out. Her writings are of the issues of growing up black and somehow feeling inferior in her own country, despite Mandela coming to power when she was 10. She read a wonderful children's story, a parable she had written, about the green apples and the pears, both growing on the same tree. It was the clearest account of the evils of apartheid I have ever heard. Copies of her books here sold out fast but I will read them online when I get home. Her medical work will be the focus of her life and I am sure she will be instrumental in reforms to the health system one day.
Some of the highlights -and there were plenty! If I don't try to tell it all in one email I'll not be so daunted.
John Pilger of course. His beautiful, modulated voice of reason reminding us all yet again how important truth and independence of the media is. He and his interviewer did not always see eye to eye, esp. on whether Julian Assange should face the music in Sweden - Pilger explained why he really does have cause to fear extradition to the US. We Aussies in the packed audience cheered throughout.
Ramos-Horta too. Heard him twice, both in his own session and at an excellent 5-star hotel lunch, being interviewed by Shamini. She had done tremendous research, and managed to get both personal and political responses from him. When asked about the traumatic after effects of the assassination attempt on him and whether he has nightmares, he said, no - the only thing he has nightmares about is John Howard. (I have them too!) He is the consummate diplomat in all questions relating to Timorese relations to Indonesia and is constantly promoting the message of reconciliation rather than retributive justice for the crimes committed against the Timorese people. It will be interesting to see what role he will play in Timor in future, now he is no longer President.
Anna Funder, prize winning Australian author of Stasiland and All That I Am. I am reading the latter myself at the moment. She is absolutely beautiful and charming and seems not to be affected in the slightest by her fame. Heard her speak twice too.
Kopano Matlwa. You will never have heard of her but one day she will be a very big name in the advancement of South Africa. She is a 27-year old absolutely stunning black girl, a doctor, currently a Rhodes scholar at Oxford and author of two books, Coconut for which she won a literary competition in her teens, and Spilt Milk. Heard her speak on a panel and also serendipitously, at the Ubud Book Club breakfast for which we had booked without any idea who the author was. She was interviewed by Kerry, my friend at Trivia, who was excellent, though Kopano spoke with such ease and charm she did not need drawing out. Her writings are of the issues of growing up black and somehow feeling inferior in her own country, despite Mandela coming to power when she was 10. She read a wonderful children's story, a parable she had written, about the green apples and the pears, both growing on the same tree. It was the clearest account of the evils of apartheid I have ever heard. Copies of her books here sold out fast but I will read them online when I get home. Her medical work will be the focus of her life and I am sure she will be instrumental in reforms to the health system one day.
Batak dancers and musicians at a Threads of Life event. Each year Threads of Life brings a group of performers from a region where they work with the textiles, and they are usually a real highlight of the festival. And a real contrast to the sophisticated intellectual goings-on of the main literary festival. The cloths of the ethnic groups of Indonesia are full of the stories of the spiritual beliefs of their ancestors. William lets the tribal leaders speak and interprets for them then the women perform, dressed in exquisite cloths. This year two girls danced - one young one with exquisite grace, positioned 6 delicate china bowls on her arms while continuing to dance without faltering. Her friend sang with a purity that made your spine tingle. The Batak are famous for their singing- have been to their area round Lake Toba in North Sumatra a few times and there was music everywhere all the time. I learned some of their songs back in uni days and this group did the famous Batak boat song I knew the refrain for.
Shamini Flint and Nuri Vittachi, the comedians of the festival, both discussing the issues of writing detective story series set in Asia. They can say anything at all and the whole audience falls about. I gave up another session of Pilger and Horta to hear them carry on together. Enormous fun!
Jeffrey Eugenides- very warm speaker who did not sound as though he had been interviewed a million times. Can't wait to read his new book, The Marriage Plot, which references Henry James and Jane Austen! Right up my alley.
Panel on the ethics of journalists. Took them a while to get on to the topic! But I always love listening to journalists talk about their profession. The Australian photojournalist who was kidnapped in Somalia for a year and a half had quite a story to tell. Having a wonderful Thai journalist on the panel gave a whole different perspective to the issues. That is what is so wonderful about the Ubud Festival - there is always a writer from some very different part of the world with a fresh view of the issues under discussion.
Oddly enough the Writers events I got invitations to were not necessarily the most inspiring. The dinner at Casa Luna with rock star Nick Cave and writer Eugenides and 300 other people was not exactly an intimate evening - Anne and I sat with Ubud friends and it was good food, but that was the night I fell ill an hour or two later, (not due to their food though!) The Palace grand opening, although it had a couple of high quality dance performances, had way too many speeches, and was very crowded.
Lots more of course, but enough for now. Got to get Jazz ready for school. Her last day for a bit. Her mum is taking her away to the north coast where her homeopathic doctor is based. She will get back the afternoon before we take off that night.
Had friends to home-cooked dinner last night - same menu as when Anne cooked for us all a week ago, but this time we got the bottle of wine open. Pam and Roger bought us a corkscrew! Delicious. Curtis Levy came too - he has made several films on Indonesia and may well be brewing another one now he is here again. Poor Jazzy had had a fall on those ghastly steps down from Petra's house when Josh picked her up, so was feeling very shaken when she arrived among the guests. Not her sparkling self. Fell asleep very early. Seems OK today apart from her grazed knees.
Jeffrey Eugenides- very warm speaker who did not sound as though he had been interviewed a million times. Can't wait to read his new book, The Marriage Plot, which references Henry James and Jane Austen! Right up my alley.
Panel on the ethics of journalists. Took them a while to get on to the topic! But I always love listening to journalists talk about their profession. The Australian photojournalist who was kidnapped in Somalia for a year and a half had quite a story to tell. Having a wonderful Thai journalist on the panel gave a whole different perspective to the issues. That is what is so wonderful about the Ubud Festival - there is always a writer from some very different part of the world with a fresh view of the issues under discussion.
Oddly enough the Writers events I got invitations to were not necessarily the most inspiring. The dinner at Casa Luna with rock star Nick Cave and writer Eugenides and 300 other people was not exactly an intimate evening - Anne and I sat with Ubud friends and it was good food, but that was the night I fell ill an hour or two later, (not due to their food though!) The Palace grand opening, although it had a couple of high quality dance performances, had way too many speeches, and was very crowded.
Lots more of course, but enough for now. Got to get Jazz ready for school. Her last day for a bit. Her mum is taking her away to the north coast where her homeopathic doctor is based. She will get back the afternoon before we take off that night.
Had friends to home-cooked dinner last night - same menu as when Anne cooked for us all a week ago, but this time we got the bottle of wine open. Pam and Roger bought us a corkscrew! Delicious. Curtis Levy came too - he has made several films on Indonesia and may well be brewing another one now he is here again. Poor Jazzy had had a fall on those ghastly steps down from Petra's house when Josh picked her up, so was feeling very shaken when she arrived among the guests. Not her sparkling self. Fell asleep very early. Seems OK today apart from her grazed knees.