Thursday 23 July 2015

Authors at Ubud

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, which runs this year from 28 October until November 1, has announced some of the authors, artists and thinkers who will attend.  More names will follow in August, but for the now, this is the list:



Mohsin Hamid

This self-professed 'misfit' is responsible for The Reluctant Fundamentalist and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia and calls Lahore, Pakistan home. 

Anchee Min

"If I had stayed in China, I would be dead." The 1994 memoir Red Azalea rocketed Anchee Min to the top of international bestseller lists. 

Nia Dinata

Unafraid to court controversy, Nia's Ca-Bau-Kan or The Courtesan was selected as a candidate for Foreign Film nomination at the Oscars. 

Chigozie Obioma

Anointed "this year's most promising African newcomer," byThe New York Times, his debut spins a mythical tale of four brothers torn apart by a prophecy.

Seno Gumira Ajidarma

Seno’s works reflect the undying rebel in his heart, tackling political oppression and state-sponsored violence in collections such asJazz, Perfume & the Incident.

Emily Bitto

Scooping the Stella Prize in 2015 – the first debut novel to ever do so – The Strays was likened to the literary polish of Ian McEwan and A.S. Byatt. 

Raj Kamal Jha

Drawn to "fault lines where worlds intersect," this journalist-writer plumbs Delhi's depths in his editorial at The Indian Express and novel She Will Build Him a City.

Hyeonseo Lee

Hyeonseo Lee's life story has to be heard to be believed. A North Korea defector, she details the horror and absurdity in her gripping autobiography The Girl with Seven Names.

Putu Oka Sukanta

An authority in HIV/AIDS and traditional healing, this author of fiction and non-fiction was detained for ten years without trial because of his activities with a leftist arts organisation.

Sofie Laguna

Winner of the 2015 Miles Franklin Award for her deeply touching book The Eye of the Sheep.

Linda Christanty

This author, journalist and Indonesian literary icon scooped the Southeast Asian Writers Award in 2013. 

Graeme Simison

Brain behind runaway hit The Rosie Project, which has been optioned by Sony for a feature film adaptation. 

Okky Madasari

Author of Maryam86Pasung Jiwa and more, and Founder of the ASEAN Literary Festival. 

Galuh Wandita 

Championing the rights of East Timor took her to the Timor-Leste truth commission.

Mazin Qumsiyeh

Cytogenetics scholar and Director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History.

Nam Le

His collection The Boat is now a stunning interactive graphic novel courtesy of Matt Huynh and SBS Online. 

Eka Kurniawan

Likened to the late great Pramoedya Ananta Toer. (To which he says, "we tend to look at Indonesia differently.")

Valeria Luiselli

Mexico-born, South Africa-raised experimental writer of Faces in the Crowd and The Story of My Teeth.

Andreas Harsono

This leading human rights advocate and journalist co-founded the Alliance of Independent Journalists.

Maureen Wheeler

One half of the near-mythic Wheelers, founders of Lonely Planet and philanthropic body Planet Wheeler.

Tony Wheeler

One half of the near-mythic Wheelers, founders of Lonely Planet and philanthropic body Planet Wheeler.