Author of Unknown Terrorist backs cultural bridge building at Bali’s Ubud literary festival
The author of the acclaimed Australian novel The Unknown Terrorist, Richard Flanagan, will visit Bali in September to take part in its international Ubud Readers and Writers Festival, which organisers see as helping build bridges between people of different nations and demolishing walls of misunderstanding and fear.
Mr Flanagan – winner of the 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize – will visit the Festival from September 25-50 as a guest of Garuda Indonesia, which is also organising special travel packages to the international event, which has been described by Harpers Bazaar as among the top six literary festivals in the world.
“I was delighted to be invited to the Ubud Writers Festival for two reasons: One is that I have long wanted to learn more about Asian writing and this seemed a wonderful opportunity to meet Asian writers and learn from them,” said Mr Flanagan.
“The other is related. We live in a world in which we are encouraged to fear others and to see difference as a threat to be met with violence. These are powerful ideas and one of the great questions of our time is how to combat them. The best response that can be made to such fears and the horror it engenders on all sides, the best response we can make to the tragedy of Bali’s own bombings, is to come together and remind ourselves and others that what joins us as human beings is always greater and better than what divides us. That is, after all, what novels show us: that where ever and how ever we live, we are never alone, nor that different.
“And all of this makes Ubud—in its setting of Bali, the economy of which needs support; in its subject of books, which at their best assert an idea of a common humanity; and in its bringing together of cultures— something more than just one more writers festival. It is perhaps an idea whose time we all need to make come, and come soon. Taking part in this festival seemed to me a small but very good step I might take on that path.”
Mr Flanagan’s first novel Death of a River Guide, was described by the Times Literary Supplement as “one of the most auspicious debuts in Australian writing.’ The Sound of One Hand Clapping, his next book, was a major bestseller, selling more than 150,000 copies in Australia. Flanagan’s first two novels, declared Kirkus Reviews, “rank with the finest fiction out of Australia since the heyday of Patrick White.” Gould’s Book of Fish, his third novel, was hailed around the world as a masterpiece and won the 2002 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His most recent novel, published in 2006, is The Unknown Terrorist. His books are published in 26 countries.
Garuda Indonesia has also supported a visit to Australia and Bali to promote the Festival by the renowned travel writer Pico Iyer, described by publishers Random House as one of the best travel writers now at work in the English language. He has emerged from a recent visit to both countries bemused at the huge difference between the fears about Bali often generated in this country and the exquisitely rich and tranquil experiences of those who actually visit there.
Garuda Indonesia’s Festival packages – from $1235* a person ex Sydney and Melbourne, $950* ex Perth and $855* ex Darwin – all include return airfares, Bali airport/Ubud transfers, four nights accommodation with daily breakfast at Ananda Cottages and Festival registration fee. Accommodation upgrades to the luxury Maya Ubud and Alila Ubud hotels are also available.
Drawing on its experience of 38 years flying millions of people to Bali in comfort and outstanding safety, Garuda Indonesia has negotiated top value packages with leading hospitality providers in Bali’s cultural capital. In keeping with the sensuous and stimulating nature of the Festival, the packages include a variety of free extras such as trekking, picnics, reflexology, massage and spa treatments – as well as incentives to stay longer and enjoy a range of complimentary dining in an area that has become noted as a gourmets delight. (see www.balionANYbudget.com.au for further information)
The Festival was named last year as ‘one of the world’s great book events’ by Conde Nast Traveler and ‘among the top six literary Festivals in the world’ by Harper’s Bazaar. The 2007 Festival, themed Sekala-Niskala | The Seen & Unseen, encompassessix days of rousing discussions, creative workshops, book launches, luscious literary lunches and dinners, a free children’s program plus poetry, theater, film, music and dance. It features more than 80 writers from 16 countries, including the winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize, Kiran Desai; author of Raise the Red Lantern, China’s Su Tong; award-winning Australian author Richard Flanagan; and the ‘enfant terrible’ of Pakistani literature Mohsin Hamid,.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
Add comment August 13th, 2007