2024 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival – My thoughts, insights & musings

I acknowledge the Erawirung people as the Traditional Custodians of the skies, lands and waters of the place where I live and wrote this blog. I honour their culture and care for Country.

I acknowledge the Wadawurrung people as the Traditional Custodians of the skies, land and waters of the place where I was born. I honour their culture and care for Country.

I extend my respect and gratitude to all First People of Australia, for their care and custodianship of this incredible continent that I call home. I honour their survival for millennia despite it all.

I acknowledge that spiritual connection to Country is vital for our wellbeing and resilience.

I acknowledge my role in truth telling in caring for Country.

I acknowledge my privilege to be able to attend the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and learn from authors, artists and activists from all around the world. This year is the second time I have attended this festival, and it has been another awesome experience that has left an indelible mark on both my heart as well as my noggin.

I extend my respect and gratitude to the people of Bali, in particular Ubud, for their warm hospitality, and acknowledge their cultural connection, care and custodianship of their Country which is the home of this festival.

Please read this blog in the spirit it was shared; with love, compassion, and a desire to learn. I wish to state that in no way am I wanting to impose myself on others with my writing, but I feel a deep desire to share my thoughts and inspirations with whoever may be reading this, and I am very grateful that you are, I warmheartedly wish you all the very best.

My aim is to improve myself and strive to be better each day. Writing is one way I am trying to meet this aim and it is one way I can contribute towards my wish to live in a society that sustainably exists within our planetary limits and that has a loving heart at its core. Hopefully my writing will go some way to showing why this is important and how we can achieve this.

I hope this blog inspires some reflection and hope and who knows, it might even encourage you to consider attending next year’s Ubud Writers & Readers Festival.

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I love Ubud. Its fast become one of my favourite places to be in the world. Amsterdam is still my favourite city, but Ubud has also found a part of my heart. I don’t know if I could live there though, I can handle the humidity for a week or two at a time but for months and/or years on end, well I’m not sure I am willing to find that out. But I do love the place and its people.

The earliest recorded history of Ubud goes back to the 8^th century when Hindus first arrived led by a holy man named Rsi Markandaya. It is said he was drawn to the energy of the place, in particular at the point of confluence of the two rivers, Wos Tengen and Wos Kiwa. It is here that he built a temple called Pura Gunung Raung. I walked past the Gunung Lebah Temple every day of my time in Ubud, either on my way to the Campuhan Ridge Walk or on my way home from the festival.

Ubud is not only recognised as a spiritual place, but also a place where medicinal herbs and plants were found hence the name Ubud is derived from the word Ubad which means medicine.

In the 1930’s Ubud became a popular place for artists to visit and it was also around that time that tourism started to develop as a vibrant industry for the area.

The idea to create an Ubud Writers and Readers Festival came as a direct response to the Bali bombings in 2002. The idea of the festival was not only a way to get people to visit Bali again but was also as a direct reaction to the violence of the bombing to say to the world that ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’, hence a writer’s festival was born!

Events such as this festival are becoming more vital as ever, as they are opportunities to celebrate our humanity in all its diversity especially when we currently have powerful forces actively working to divide and/or control us.

Anyway, before I get all deep, the point I really wish to make at this point is to express my love for Ubud, I have been there three times now and I have always found it a great place to be in the world. If fate permits, I hope to attend the festival for as long as it, and/or I, exist.

Day 1 – Thursday 24^th October

My day started with a walk along the Campuhan Ridge walk. It’s a great way to start the day and I was blessed to witness the sunrise for what I knew was going to be a great first day at the festival.

I enjoyed Nasi Goreng for breakfast at the Ladera Villas, my lodgings in Ubud. I have stayed at the Ladera Villas each time I have visited Ubud, and love it there and I also love their Indonesian breakfast, in fact I’d have to say their Nasi is one of the best Nasi’s I’ve ever had, and I enjoyed it every day of my visit.

I arrived early at the Puri Lakasan Museum car park hoping to get the first shuttle at 8am. It was while waiting for the bus that I met Johnathon and Janeen from Adelaide. I really enjoyed their company throughout the festival and now regard them as great friends and I hope to catch up with them again.

I like getting the first bus to the festival, arriving early and enjoying the ambience of the venue before it fills with people. It also lets me get a good seat at the first session.

The first event for the day was the Festival Welcome at the Indus Restaurant, consisting of a traditional Balinese welcome dance and a greeting from the Director and Founder of the festival, Janet DeNeefe.

This was followed by the keynote titled “Speak the Truth”, delivered by Paul Caruana Galizia. Paul is an investigative journalist and advocate for press freedom and his keynote focused on the vital importance of truth telling in today’s world and highlighted the challenges journalists face in the pursuit of justice.

Paul’s book, A Death in Malta, is an investigation into the life and assassination of his mother, Daphne Caruana Galizia. Daphne had devoted her life to exposing corruption in Malta. Listening to Paul’s story about his mum just brought home the enormous cost some of us have to endure in the pursuit of truth and justice. This theme was revisited often over the next 4 days.

Paul also talked about the ramifications for when there is no law, or through deregulation or when we use law to favour a political agenda, it ultimately leads to democratic failure, corruption and environmental degradation. He highlighted how corruption comes about and the systems that enable it.

This had me thinking about ideas around democracy and what this actually means and the importance of the ‘rule of law’ and how this is applied, especially if our current legal systems enable corrupt, immoral or unethical behaviour. I believe we need to create a framework of legal pluralism by integrating the current legal system with Indigenous Law with the aim of creating a more nuanced system, with a strong ethical and moral basis.

Anyway, Paul Carusa Galizia’s keynote certainly got me thinking and I thank him for sharing his story and his work in bringing truth and justice to the fore. He certainly set the scene for the theme of this festival, “Speak the Truth, Practice Kindness”.

Following Paul’s keynote, it was time to head down to the Alang Alang Stage to listen to Sathnam Sanghera discuss his book, Empireworld: How British Imperialism Shaped the Globe, with Gill Westaway. Empireworld examines the global legacy of the British Empire and its enduring impact on economics, politics, and culture around the world.

Sathnam was in my top 3 people I wanted to see at the festival, the other two being Amitav Ghosh and Omar Musa, so I was excited for this session.

I took quite a few notes while listening to this conversation, but the point Sathnam made that resonated with me the most was the need for us to focus on the nuance, as it is here that we may be able to make sense of our complex world.

Some of my notes from this session included:

All issues in the world can be traced back as a result of the British Empire. But we must look for nuance.
Looking for nuance and balance and focusing on contradictions – the enemy of this is social media (pushing us towards extremes/binaries)
Have to make a case for nuance in writing
Legacy of empire is profound and still affecting us today
Nationalism borders empire
Amazon/Google – are today’s equivalent of the East India Company.
In a world where we want everything to be simple (black/white) it is complex (shades of grey).

Empireworld is a fascinating book, and I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about our history. Some points that stuck with me from reading the book are:

The curious history of naming places that the British ‘discovered’ after places they had just left, or after monarchs and aristocrats. This has created 35 places called York, 80 Victorias, 53 Plymouths, 41 Jamestowns, 76 Kingstons or Kingstowns, 50 Georgetowns and 51 places named after Queen Elizabeth II.
Damage wreaked on the planet by British imperialism is staggering, environmental destruction is one of colonialisms lasting legacies. Our current environmental emergency can’t be understood without reference to the history of British and European colonialism, which set in motion a global model for racialized resource extraction from people of colour.
We may talk up the spreading of the ‘rule of law’ but it was curtailed by the other great imperial idea, white supremacy, which demanded that white people be treated preferentially in colonial law.
The USA is the most extreme expression of the racist world order.
It’s more important to seek out nuance, complexity and a multitude of perspectives than a balance between good/evil.
The legacies of British Empire are both contradictory and complex.

Empireworld is actually Sathnam’s second book about the British Empire, his first, Empireland is also a great read, and I recommend it as well.

Sathnam has had to contend with criticism from his exploration of the history of the British Empire as it doesn’t paint everything as positive. However, by looking at our history from different perspectives it is not about inciting ‘white’ guilt but promoting understanding and that is something we need more of in our world.

The next session at Alang-Alang was titled ‘Fighting for Democracy in Myanmar’, with panelists Ma Thida and Ben Bland, moderated by Drew Ambrose.

My resounding takeaway from this session was being reminded of the personal cost people are paying just to fight for democracy, for human rights and freedom of speech. My heart goes out to the people of Myanmar who are being subjected to airstrikes, displacement and violent atrocities and I hope peace can be found. I will never understand why someone feels they have a right to control others and to use violence to assert that control. It is inhumane.

After several quite heavy sessions I decided to head down to the Valley Stage to listen to Norman Erikson Pasaribu speak with moderator Adolfo Aranjuez about their book of poems, My Dream Job. Norman and Adolfo were part of a panel I listened to last year so I knew this would be an enjoyable conversation, and Norman and Adolfo didn’t disappoint.

A couple of points made that I noted were:

Why do people in the global south need to obtain a visa to view their cultural artifacts?
Every person should have the right to mobility – to be where they are loved, no matter where that may be.

I also learned of a new term – ‘queering’, which is about challenging and disrupting traditional norms and assumptions, which is something we need to do more of.

I really enjoyed Norman reading their poems and the conversation with Adolfo was also a lot of fun with Adolfo again proving why he is one of my favourite moderators at the festival.

My next session was back at the Alang-Alang Stage to listen to a panel discuss the book, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter: Songs from the Kitchen Table. This panel consisted of Jill Shelton, Lionel Lauch and Tamala Shelton and was moderated by Marcia Langton AO and Aaron Corn.

I have been an Archie Roach fan ever since the early 1990’s when I first purchased his Charcoal Lane CD, so I was really grateful to the panel and the moderators for their insights of Archie and Ruby. This was an enjoyable session but also one where the panelists shared some personal stories, and it was a privilege to listen to them. It was also great to listen to Tamala and Lionel perform one of Archies songs (I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten the name of the track). It was awesome. It was listening to Lionel play the yidaki at this session that convinced me to register for his sound meditation session tomorrow.

So that was Day One of the main program done for me for the day. I considered staying on for another session or two but instead decided to head back to my lodgings. But first I purchased my ticket to the Sound Healing session with Lionel Lauch which will occur tomorrow afternoon. The venue for this event, the Dragon Tea Temple, was on my way home so I decided to suss it out on my walk. It looks like a tranquil space, and this is an event I am now looking forward to.

But for tonight, I had booked myself in to attend the Poetry Night at Casa Luna. I enjoyed a jazz and poetry event at last year’s festival and figured this event will be just as good … and it was.

I arrived at Casa Luna early, which was lucky as the heavens opened up just as I arrived, and it poured with rain for the duration of the event which just added to the atmosphere.

The poets and performers included Bagus Ari Saputra, Namal Siddiqui, Pranita Dewi, Robin Block and Tan Lioe Ie, moderated by Miles Merrill. This was a great fun event and had me thinking, as I have done several times during the festival, that the world needs more poets.

This event was a great way to end Day 1 of the 2024 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. I am so grateful to be able to learn from and enjoy such a great array of authors, artists, poets and activists. At the end of the day, I only had two thoughts in my mind, I love Ubud and I love this festival.

And the rain just cleared up in time for my short walk home. Winning.

Day 2 – Friday 25^th October

Day 2 started at the Alang-Alang Stage for the ‘Speak the Truth: Journalism, Ethics and Freedom of Speech’ session. The panelists included Paul Caruana Galizia and Sathnam Sanghera whom I listened to yesterday but also Maria Ressa, who would become my favourite panelist from the festival, and was moderated by Drew Ambrose.

This was a fascinating conversation that highlighted that in today’s age of rampant misinformation, propaganda and scrutiny of press freedom, that responsible journalism is more crucial than ever. The panel explored the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists in a polarised world and the importance of accountability in the pursuit of truth and democracy.

After such an absorbing discussion I wandered down to the Valley Stage for ‘The Uncharted Pages: Independent Publishing’ session. This panel comprised Juli Sastrawan, Kurnia Yaumil Fajar, Megan Patty and Syarafina Vidyadhana and moderated by Kelly Falconer.

I was inspired by these publishers and enjoyed their respective stories. However, I was blown away by the statement that some authors buy their books through Amazon only to resell them at cover price as the best way for them to make money from their book.

The next session at the Valley Stage was ‘Agustinus Wibowo: Us and Them’, moderated by Professor Emerita Krishna Sen.

Agustinus Wibowo is a travel writer and in his latest work, Us and Them, he delves deeply into his personal quest for identity exploring his anxieties and dilemmas as a Chinese ethnic growing up in Indonesia.

This session was more than just about travel. Agustinus recounted his experiences of discrimination and racism, experiences that compelled him to grapple with fundamental questions of identity. He talked about gaining an understanding of himself through not only physical travel, but historical reflection and spiritual exploration.

There were a few things Agustinus said that resonated with me, including:

Homeland is not anywhere, homeland is in your heart and/or where you are loved, asking the question, what do we put into our heart to feel at home?
We must make peace with all our identities and trauma is part of making peace.
Why are Chinese always the scapegoat?

After Agustinus, it was time to return to the Alang-Alang Stage for the ‘Amitav, Isna and Sathnam: Reframing Colonial Histories’ session. This conversation between Amitav Ghosh, Sathnam Sanghera and Isna Marifa was moderated by Tariq Khalil.

This discussion on colonial history challenged the notion that history is settled and delved into how legacies of colonialism continue to shape our current social, political and economic landscapes.

Some points from this session included:

There is a new generation of historians looking into new narratives.
When slavery was abolished the equivalent of 40% of the British budget was paid to slaveowners as compensation.
Slaves transported by the Royal African Company had the initials of the Duke of York branded on their skin.
Opium trade was the main commerce for the British Empire.
It’s bizarre how people accept the myths of Empire – we have collective amnesia.
Climate change in the global north is a technical and scientific issue. In the global south it is geopolitical.
Is capitalism the next empire we need to address?

My last session of the main program today was at the Indus Restaurant called ‘Remembering Makassan Trade with Indigenous Australians’. This session featured Abdi Karya, Anthea Skinner and Kristen Smith moderated by Marcia Langton AO and Aaron Corn.

To describe this session, I will quote the festival website …

From the late 17th century to the early 20th century, Indonesian fleets from the Makassan Sultanate of Gowa on Sulawesi sailed to Australia’s north coast to trade and harvest trepang (sea cucumber), forging deep cultural and familial ties between the regions. Today, these connections still resonate strongly in both Sulawesi and northern Australia. This panel explores new collaborations between Indonesian and Australian descendants and researchers in a discussion on the preservation of this vital legacy and its future.

It was now time to wander down to the Dragon Tea Temple for Sound Healing with Lionel Lauch. Lionel is the CEO and founder of Living Culture. Living Culture is an Indigenous led organisation based on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, providing cultural, environmental, educational and holistic healing programs to schools, organisations and the general public. From guided walks and talks with Yidaki-led meditation and sound healing to educational programs, cultural talks, workshops, and smoking ceremonies, Living Culture provides unique insight and understanding into the Indigenous heritage of the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung peoples who are the Traditional Owners of this land.

Anyway, I was one of the first to arrive so had a chance to relax and take in the surroundings. I also had a great chat with a lady from England who wasn’t here for the festival but had heard about this session so booked in and came along.

Before getting into the sound healing with the Yidaki, Lionel talked about all the food and medicine plants available and the need for us to be eating proper food. This resonated with me especially as I just started reading Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken which is providing some disturbing insights into the food industry.

This was an amazing session where we experienced the transformative power of sound healing, and I felt rejuvenated afterwards.

Following this session Lionel did a more personal healing session with one of the other attendees. I was struck by the physical impact this had on her (she was convulsing quite dramatically) while this was being conducted.

I’d love to learn more about this sound healing as well as the other learning experiences that Living Culture provides, and I plan to visit them in the next 12 months or so.

My last event for the day was another Special Event, this time ‘Omar Musa and Mariel Roberts Musa: The Offering (A Plastic Ocean Oratorio)’at CHORA Mediterranean Restaurant and Bar. I had been looking forward to this event ever since I saw it in the program as I have been a fan of Omar Musa for many years. Not just as a MC/rapper as I love his albums The Fullness, Dead Centre and Since Ali Died, in fact 5 of his songs have made my top ten songs in the Triple J Hottest 100 over the years, but also as an author as I have enjoyed his novel Here Come The Dogs but also his poetry in Millefiori.

It was also my great fortune that Johnathon and Janeen had also booked to see this event, so we shared a table and enjoyed the show together.

Omar and Mariel put on a captivating performance, I just love the way Omar uses language; he is a consummate wordsmith, and his words always tend to find their way to my heart. This was an awesome show in a great location.

Afterwards, Johnathon, Janeen and I enjoyed dinner at the Honeymoon Kitchen – Honeymoon Guesthouse. I enjoyed their Nasi Ayam Betutu – home-cooked slow-braised chicken in Balinese spices with veg & rice, washed down with a Turmeric Jamu. I enjoyed at least one Turmeric Jamu from the Honeymoon every day during my stay in Ubud, I thoroughly recommend them. I am also a fan of their Banana Powa, a banana, vanilla and nutmeg smoothie. Yummy.

Anyway, after another awesome day at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival I can only wonder what goodness tomorrow will bring.

Day 3 – Saturday 26 October

Today started at the Alang Alang Stage with Maria Ressa talking with Janet Steele about her book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator. Maria is a Nobel laureate, journalist and co-founder and CEO of RAPPLER an online news website based in the Philippines.

This was a brilliant session, and I was inspired by Marias passion, energy and integrity. I have also since read her book which is brilliant, albeit sobering.

Here are some notes and extracts from the book:

Authoritarianism depends on ensuring there is only one side to every story.
Over the last few years more journalists from all over the world are being imprisoned and killed than ever before.
It is ironic that autocratic leaders are often called ‘strongmen’ when in fact that can’t tolerate dissent or even allowing a level playing field. It is those that stand up to them whose strength should be celebrated.
Without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. Without all three we have no shared reality, and democracy as we know it.
Tech platforms have given geopolitical powers a way to manipulate all of us.
We are standing on the rubble of the world that was, and we must have the foresight and courage to imagine, and create, the world as it should be – more compassionate, more equal, more sustainable.
No one can achieve anything meaningful alone. An orchestra is a perfect metaphor for a working democracy.
When you don’t know what’s going to happen, start with trust. Being vulnerable and open is the first step to bring everyone together.
It’s not just social media but all the technological interruptions in the modern world that is conditioning us to prefer sensationalism over objectivity.
Facebook represents one of the greatest threats to democracies around the world and we have allowed our freedoms to be taken away by technology companies greed for growth and revenue. Tech sucked up our personal experiences and data, organised it with artificial intelligence, manipulated us with it and created behaviour at a scale that brought out the worst of humanity.
Traditionally news organisations ensured a divide/wall/balance between the head of business and head of editorial due to the inherent conflict of interest. At Facebook, since 2008 all decisions were politicised with every decision about making a profit and protecting Facebooks interests.
The information ecosystem has been fundamentally corrupted as the tech platforms had put in place rules that give the equivalent of nuclear weapons to digital popularists and authoritarians to turn society and democracy upside down.
Free speech is being used to stifle free speech.
Silence is complicity because silence is consent.
Always make the choice to learn.

Next up was Amitav Ghosh speaking with Tariq Khalil about his book, ‘Smoke And Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories’. I had previously read this book as well as another of Amitav’s books, ‘The Nutmegs Curse’ and was excited for this session.

The common European understanding of the Opium trade was that imperial powers were merely meeting a demand that was asserted to have existed in China independently of Western colonialisation. The opium trade was seen as a necessary evil in that it provided the British Empire with the funds that it needed in order to go about the business of converting its subject peoples to the worship of progress.

The ideology of British imperialism was founded on a conception of time, and of history as a narrative of ever ascending progress. Many of the key innovations came from an armaments industry that had been supercharged by British colonial wars, and much of the capital for industrialisation was extracted by means of slave labour, and the drug trade, these facts have been relegated to irrelevance, simply because they did not fit the narrative of progress.

The rational of the colonial Opium trade was provided by the ideology of free market capitalism, as embodied in the doctrine of free trade.

Opium was also a way that America was able to transfer China’s economic power to Americans industrial revolution. Contrary to ‘free market’ mythologies, the fortunes made were possible ultimately by the structures of kinship, class and race that allowed the American Opium traders to monopolise the American share of the 19^th century Opium trade. Much of the opium money benefited the banking and railroad industries emerging in America.

Interestingly, the only parts of Asia where opium was sponsored by ruling regimes were the colonies run by Europeans. In every part of Asia that enjoyed any kind of autonomy, they sought to ban or regulate Opium – but the British and French didn’t let that happen.

The cities of Mumbai, Hong Kong and Singapore were all created to facilitate the Opium trade and the bank, HSBC was pretty much created on the back of opium money.

Opium provided the template that other dangerous industries such as tobacco would use later to stall regulation. The difference being that in the case of Opium – these were the tactics of a government (not corporations) that was then the most powerful state in the world. It is difficult to believe that energy corporations today would be depraved enough to conceal the dangers that fossil fuels pose but the example of opium shows us that this kind of depravity has been built into the capitalist system and can only be overcome by concerted collective action. Hence the overriding legacy of the Opium trade are the distorted values that have been built into our economic system and the corruption of our institutions.

It was now time to head up to the Indus Restaurant for the ‘Womans Rights in Conflict’ session. The panelists being Amin Saikal, Ma Thida, Marga Ortigas and Sara M. Saleh moderated by Hannah Lucinda Smith.

This session highlighted the deterioration in human rights exacerbated by global crises and conflicts which is causing gender equality to fall further from reach. Obstacles to women’s advancement like poverty, underdevelopment in rural areas, and sexual and gender-based violence are becoming increasingly evident as gender equality is rejected in certain parts of the world.

It was distressing to learn that 4 in 10 people who die in war zones are woman.

The next session at the Indus Restaurant was titled ‘Safeguarding Human Rights Within Corporate Practices in Indonesia’. The panelists for this session were Andrew Rosser, Ken M.P. Setiawan, Randy Wirasta Nandyatama and Roichatul Aswidah, moderated by Andreas Harsono.

In Indonesia, corporate activity is a major source of human rights abuses such as forced displacement of indigenous people from traditional lands, violation of labor rights, and environmental disasters jeopardizing health and livelihoods. Yet the country has moved slowly and inconsistently to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) – the primary global framework aimed at preventing corporate human rights abuses.

I stayed at the Indus Restaurant for the next session ‘Obsessed with Books’ with Edwina Preston, Kurnia Yaumil Fajar and Palani Mohan, moderated by Megan Patty.

Publishing a physical book holds unique value, sparking conversations and creating lasting impressions and obsessions. Incredibly special, they offer a tactile experience that is said to enhance comprehension up to eight times more effectively than e-readers and foster deeper connections and improved understanding of the content.

The advent of digital was to be the end of the book however some 2.2 billion books are still sold each year. I guess I have contributed my part to this number as I have bought over 100 books during the last 4-5 years as part of research for my own book. My favourite bookshop is the The Raven’s Parlour Bookstore located in Tanunda. The picture below contains a good portion of my library at home.

I have not always been an avid reader, but I am now, and I am the better for it. I love books and I really enjoyed this session with other passionate book lovers.

It was now 3pm and I was famished so I adjourned downstairs at the Indus Restaurant where I enjoyed their Bali Tapas and Pork Gyoza’s while taking in the view of the river valley while reflecting on what I had learned so far today.

After my delicious meal I wandered down to the Alang Alang Stage to take in the second half of the ‘Shifting Genres: Challenging Forms and Crossing Genres’ session. Omar Musa was one of the panelists for this session, so I was interested in hearing from him.

It was then time to wander down to the Valley Stage for ‘Memoir Writing: Stories of the Self’. The panelists for this session were Dido Michielsen, Georgina Banks and Khin Myint. This session was moderated by Eva Fernandes whom I really enjoyed listening to last year, so she was the drawcard for me for this one.

While I had already been blown away by the likes of Maria Ressa and Amitav Ghosh today I didn’t expect to be so moved by this session. It was brilliant and I must admit I was brought to tears listening to Khin Myint as he talked about his memoir, Fragile Creatures. Khin is an Australian-Burmese author from Perth. Fragile Creatures delves into his family’s struggle with his sister’s desire to end her life while battling a non-terminal illness. Set in the world’s most isolated city, the story takes him and his mother to various countries in their search for cures and answers. This is a family story told with humour, wonderment and complete honesty. It’s about care, truth and the hardest choices – and what happens when realities clash.

This session had me thinking about a book my dad is currently working on that he has titled ‘Through my Mothers Eyes’ which details our family’s immigration to Australia based on letters Oma sent to her family back in the Netherlands.

This session has also inspired me to embark on a project that I have been thinking about for some time, and that is to write a book about my mum, but this will have to wait until I finish my current book. I had started looking into a family history of mum’s side of my family, but I think this will morph into a story based on her.

Anyway a few notes I took from this session included the following statements:

Why does an illness have to be physical for it to be taken seriously?
The enemy of feminism is patriarchy, not men.
The first act of violence in patriarchy is the denial of emotions.

I stayed on at the Valley Stage for the ‘A Diary of Genocide: In Conversation with Atef Abu Saif’ session. At the time of this session 41,000 people had already been murdered in Gaza, I don’t want to think what that number is today. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite understand Atef, so I wandered back up to the Indus Restaurant where I caught the second half of the conversation between Agung Mango and Marlowe Bandem.

Agung Mango is leading a genre-defying wave of psychedelic hip-hop, showcased in his latest album ‘IN BELLY WE TRUST’.

Agung talked about the importance of ‘Taksu’ and how he prays for Taksu before a performance. Taksu describes the positive energy evoked when one comes across an artistic inspiration that captures the eye, mind and heart. It involves the energy of the visible world and the blessings of the invisible.

Taksu can be described as ‘talent’ that comes with lifelong training coupled with the gift that comes from the higher place. To acquire the Taksu you have to master the physical and material aspects of your art – Bayu, learn its mental and moral aspects – Sabba, and understand its spiritual and magical aspect.

The presence of Taksu can be a teacher whose words inspire, a farmer whose products taste better because of the love he puts in growing them, a doctor whose diagnoses are accurate, an artist whose artworks reflect purity, truth, and beauty.

On one hand the Taksu comes from the mysterious, the extraordinary, and on the other hand is related to attracting the attention of others by our excellence to achieve, to complete things.

Taksu is the life and soul of Bali and cannot be accomplished without unity.

Other comments from Agung and Marlowe that resonated with me included:

Embrace being in the unknown.
Never stop being a student, when we stop learning we stop growing.
Need to practice being more curious.
Confidence comes from trust in oneself.

I really enjoyed this discussion, and it reiterated my love for the raw honesty that is found in hip hop.

Following this session, I had to hang around for around an hour and a half waiting for the special event ‘Constellation of Words: The Wisdom of the Stars and an Evening of Poetry’ which was also to be held at the Indus Restaurant. I was lucky to be able to have a chat with Lionel Lauch and learn more about his sound healing session yesterday as he had arrived early for this session as he was one of the presenters.

Joining him at this session were Abhay K., Ali Cobby Eckermann, Noviana Kusumawardhani, Gabrielle Tania, Sugi Lanus and Tamala Shelton, moderated by Jaslyn Hall.

This was a magical evening of stargazing and poetry. The poets and performers shared lyrical prose on love, stars, starstruck folklore and the universe, making for an unforgettable evening of astronomy and literature. What a sensational way to finish what was a very long day that started at 9am and finished up at 9pm.

I walked home from the festival feeling very content and inspired reflecting on the idea that our hearts are in the constellations.

Day 4 – Sunday 27^th October

The last day of the festival had arrived, and I was excited to be spending the whole day at the Indus Restaurant. This is my favourite stage at the festival and today’s program looked exciting.

The shuttle bus was ready to go when I arrived at the Puri Lakasan Museum car park so Johnathon, Janeen and I arrived extra early. For a change we sat in the front seats, I usually sit on the fringes, near the fans to keep cool. We sat with a couple from Perth who I had met at the ‘Constellation of Words’ session last night.

To kick off proceedings today we listened to William Dalrymple talk with Gill Westaway about his book, The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World.

This was a fascinating presentation from William where I learned that for a millennium and a half, India was a confident exporter of its diverse civilisation, creating around it a vast empire of ideas. Indian art, religions, technology, astronomy, music, dance, literature, mathematics and mythology blazing a trail across the world, along a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific.

India and Rome were major trading partners with traders using the monsoon winds to sail from India up to the Red Sea and into Egypt. These winds blew in one direction for 6 months and then in the other direction when they would sail home. This was similar to the Makassan Trade I learned about on Friday when the Makassans would sail to the Top End of Australia and stay for several months before the winds changed direction and they could head home again.

We have been taught that all the trade between the east and west was along the Silk Road, but this is incorrect, and makes sense given that Rome and Persia were not allies and the overland route would have taken 3-4 times longer and is evident by the fact that Roman coins are found in India but not China. I guess we have been taught a version of history told by the British who denigrated Indian heritage and accomplishments.

A statement that I noted down during this conversation was India was an Empire of the spirit, and the British was an Empire of the sword.

I started reading ‘The Golden Road’ while at the Adelaide Test match between India and Australia which I thought was quite apt.

Next on stage was Ali Cobby Eckermann talking with Kirsti Melville. Ali Cobby Eckermann is an Australian poet and author, known for her powerful works and poetry exploring the impacts of colonisation and family identity as a member of the stolen generation herself. Her latest verse novel, She is the Earth, is about a journey through grief and celebrating the healing power of Country.

This was another session that totally moved me and brought me to tears as Ali told her story.

After the session Johnathon approached Ali to see if she would be interested in coming along to a poetry group he is involved with, which she agreed. I look forward to Johnathon letting me know when this will occur as I will make the trip to Adelaide to listen to Ali again, she was awesome.

At the end of this session, I had the thought that I had earlier during the festival, that the world needs more poets.

The next session was titled ‘A Critical Dialogue on Migration, Human Rights and Compassion’ with Dominggas Nari, Hannah Lucinda Smith and Sara M. Saleh, moderated by Andreas Harsono.

This was an interesting conversation on one of the most pressing issues of our time: the complex relationship between borders, migration, and human rights. As global crises force millions to flee their homes—whether due to environmental disasters or severe human rights violations—the intricacies of migration policies and enforcement become increasingly critical.

I was particularly impressed with Sara M. Saleh, she is a writer and human rights lawyer who has won many awards for her writing.

Here are some notes that I took from this conversation:

Why do we refer to brown people as migrants and white people as expats?
The notion of borders and nations is absurd, we are all indigenous to the earth.
An IDP is an Internally Displaced Person.
We need to address decolonialisation and reconciliation on First Peoples terms.
What is worse – the hyper visual experience of people in Gaza or the hyper invisible experience of people in West Papua?
The world is always in a state of flux, anything that excludes others should be stopped, people should be able to move freely.
How do we reimagine our systems to create the world we deserve.
We must be critical of the media.
The world is full of hypocrisy, it’s hard not to get cynical.
No one is free if anyone else is not free.

Before I get onto the next session, I need to mention Patricia, she was one of our fellow attendees but what Patricia does during each session is draw the panelists and gets them to sign the drawings following each session and she is obviously a very gifted artist. This is such a wonderful thing and as she said when I asked her about her drawings, that it helped her listen and keep engaged in the conversation. I remember being chastised at work once as I was apparently not interested in the meeting that I was attending, which was a Council meeting so I could be forgiven for being bored. The fact is I also draw and scribble things as I listen as a way of absorbing the conversation and keeping myself engaged. Anyway, I digress.

The next session was moderated by Edwina Preston and featured panelists Claire Kilroy, Dicky Senda and Robin Lim who came together under the heading ‘Speak the Truth, Practice Kindness: Healthcare, Education and Community’.

This session explored how communities can support one another, the role of food in advocacy and cultural preservation, and the truths of motherhood, offering knowledge and empathy for meaningful change.

This was another fascinating conversation about subjects that I am quite ignorant of. Some of my notes from the session included:

Can you wage war on others if you’ve nurtured a child? Or looked after the elderly or invalid?
Mothering is the single most important job in the world.
830 women will die today giving birth.
We should refer to ‘Mothers in Love’ not ‘Mothers in Law’.
During the green revolution white rice replaced the traditional red and brown rice in Indonesia due to being able to gain greater yields. However, this resulted in malnutrition leading to many women losing their lives during childbirth due to hemorrhaging.
Why do we tell woman to not walk down dark streets – we should tell men not to rape and murder.

Earlier in the year I had enjoyed reading Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity by Ian McNiven and Lynette Russell so I was looking forward to the next session at Indus Restaurant with Ian and Lynette talking with Kirsti Melville about their book.

Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity is the 7^th book of 8 released thus far in the First Knowledges series, they are all important reading for anyone wanting to learn more about the First People of Australia.

Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity showcases the expertise of First Nations peoples, from creating artificial reefs for oyster farms to repurposing European glass into spearheads, highlighting the innovations that have sustained the world’s oldest living culture and how it relates to contemporary life.

One of the first points Ian and Kirsty make in their book is how could the First People live in Australia for 65,000 years and not be the masters of innovation and invention? They were able to ensure the vitality and resilience of their culture while keeping their environment healthy and sustainable. They also point out that Indigenous innovation is not linear, encompassing only the new, but must be seen as a holistic approach that draws widely upon existing and inherited social and cultural beliefs and practices.

First People’s history has an integrity and a significance which sits outside of global narratives of cultural development and progress leading to a historic forgetting and intentional erasing by which Indigenous people and their culture were ignored, excluded and suppressed. The process of forgetting was intentional to hide our shame for what we continue to do to these people. The tragedy is not only the intergenerational trauma perpetuated on First People, but we also denied the history of our country, imagine how different Australia would be if we respected and recognised indigenous tenure, culture and wisdom.

This was another fascinating session, and I thoroughly recommend the First Knowledge series of books, in particular Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity by Ian McNiven and Lynette Russell.

Staying with the Indigenous theme the next session at the Indus Restaurant was titled ‘New Dialogues on Indigenous Knowledge’ with Joe Williams, Jose Trindade, Shura Taylor and Yalmay Marika-Yunupiŋu and moderated by Marcia Langton AO and Aaron Corn.

This panel of scholars of Indigenous Knowledge from Australia, Timor-Leste and Taiwan discussed how Indigenous community needs and priorities guide their efforts to build new futures for Indigenous Knowledge retention in a rapidly changing world and shared how foundational Indigenous ideas and values shape their research and remain essential for sustaining healthy, vibrant communities.

The panelists are all contributors to the Indigenous Knowledge Institute which is a Melbourne Interdisciplinary Research Institute that was established in 2020 to support and promote Indigenous Knowledge research as a vibrant field of interdisciplinary activity and new research engagements with Indigenous knowledge holders around the world. This collaborative approach to Indigenous knowledge research is unique in the global context.

This approach centres the wisdom of Indigenous knowledge-holders across interdisciplinary fields of enquiry as diverse as medicine, health and wellbeing, social and economic development, environmental management, agriculture and horticulture, history, law and the creative arts.

Indigenous Knowledge: Australian Perspectives is the first book to be published as a result of this research and was published on 5^th November 2024, a week after the close of the festival. This book reveals how Indigenous ways of being and knowing are intricately tied to place, expressed through beauty, and resound with wisdom. It argues that the world’s contemporary challenges can be addressed, and socio-environmental diversity sustained, through conversations with both our ancestral pasts and the ancestral futures that we leave behind.

I have purchased this book but have yet to read it, but I am looking forward to when I do.

It had been a big day so far and I contemplated pulling stumps and heading home but I also didn’t want the festival to end so I decided to stay on for the last session of the day at the Indus Restaurant which was a conversation between Robin Lim and Olin Monteiro on the subject of ‘Nurturing Life’. However, this was an easy gig for Olin as she didn’t have to do much as Robin shared a presentation and did most of the talking, which we all appreciated.

On reflection this was probably the best session to end festival, with the title of ‘Nurturing Life’ given all the existential issues that we have discussed and been exposed to over the preceding four days.

Anyway, I am so glad I stayed for this session as it was inspiring and informative.

Robin Lim is a Filipina-American grandmother, midwife, and founder of Bumi Sehat Foundation, which maintains six clinics in Indonesia and Philippines. She is an author, teacher, keynote speaker, 2011 CNN “Hero of the Year,” and Ashoka Fellow (a prestigious award for the world’s leading social change entrepreneurs).

She is most commonly known in Bali, where Bumi Sehat’s headquarters and flagship clinic are located, as simply Ibu (“Mother”) Robin. She resides there with her husband, Wil Hemmerle, her 92-year-old mother Crescenia, and many of her eight children and seven grandchildren.

With a vision to revolutionize birth, peacefully, Ibu Robin founded the Bumi Sehat (“Healthy Mother Earth”) Foundation in 1993 to provide birthing services and heal the country’s devastatingly high maternal and infant mortality rate. Following the tradition of her own Filipina grandmother who was a traditional healer and birth keeper, Ibu Robin became a Certified Professional Midwife and led Bumi Sehat’s community health and childbirth clinic.

The philosophy of the Bumi Sehat (“Healthy Mother Earth”) Foundation is best encompassed by the following quote I found on Robin’s website:

“By protecting mothers and newborns at childbirth, we may build peace — one baby, one mother, one family at a time.”

Some of my notes from this session included:

A modern obstetrics table looks similar to a torture table.
Fathers in Bali don’t cut their hair during pregnancy.
The placenta is the guardian angel of our babies.
Breast feeding is a superpower.
In disasters and war woman are 14% more likely to die.
Medicine should be by heart not by finances.

But the note I made that perfectly encapsulates the message of the festival, and its theme of Speak the Truth, Practice Kindness is that now more than ever love is necessary in all things.

So that was my experience of the 2024 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. As was last year’s festival, this one has also been transformative, enjoyable, and whilst heart breaking at times it has left with me a great sense of hope for the future given the wisdom and passion evident amongst those of us who see the folly of the status quo and want to create a better world.

I offer my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Janet DeNeefe and her team at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival for creating such an amazing event.

To wrap this blog up, I just want to go back to the start of this blog and extend my respect and gratitude to the people of Ubud, for their warm hospitality, and acknowledge their cultural connection, care and custodianship of their Country. I’d also like to acknowledge my fellow attendees at the festival and thank them for the many insightful and enjoyable conversations that I shared with some of them and in particular thank you to Johnathon and Janeen for extending their friendship to me. I look forward to catching up with them in Adelaide soon.

I hope I did the festival justice with my words.

Now more than ever love is necessary in all things.

I am already looking forward to Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2025.

Thank you for reading this blog.

All the best.

If you enjoyed this blog, you may also enjoy my other blogs, here are links to some of them …

2023 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival

Some Reflections from ChangeFest 2024

Where’s my Voice …!?

Food Glorious Food

Some Thoughts About Politics

Some Thoughts About Religion