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 fourth 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.

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.

The Lead Up

This year marks my fourth annual pilgrimage to Bali to participate in the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF26). I arrived a day early which gave me the opportunity to reacquaint myself with Ubud, one of my favourite places in the world. I think I write this in every blog about Ubud but there is something about the vibe of this place that just resonates with my soul. I just love being there.

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. He was drawn by 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.

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 energy of this place has drawn people to it for centuries.

On the flight to Bali I read Stan Grants book, When Words Fail Us. This was the second time I have read this book and will not be the last. It’s only a hundred or so pages but is packed with Stan’s wisdom as he reflects on how we struggle to speak to one another today as well as the importance of listening, silence and philosophy. It is a great little book and provided the backdrop for my thoughts during UWRF26.

During my time in Ubud I also read The First Inventors by Billy Griffiths, Larissa Behrendt and Sean Ulm. This book is based on the TV series with the same name, providing a history of Australia with First Peoples perspectives at its heart. It traces 65,000 years of innovation, diplomacy and design, celebrating the survival and resilience of cultural knowledge. Grounded in the idea of Country, this book honours old ways of knowing alongside new research, from astronomy, navigation and ancient memory systems to archaeology, pottery and international trade.

In my book I have written extensively about the First People but as a result of reading The First Inventors I have a few more bits of information and context to add. Many thanks to my great friend Darren Birbeck who gave me this book, without his generosity I would not have gained this additional knowledge which will make my book better as a result. Thanks Darren, much appreciated.

My first meal in Ubud was at Warrung Gauri, one of my favourite places to eat. I had a Nasi Goreng but while enjoying my lunch I was sitting near Pam and Clive, and another couple Irene and Phil. As happens, a conversation started up between our three tables, and we had all come to town for the festival. What was amazing is that both couples lived in St Kilda, Melbourne. Small world.

Day 1 – Thursday 22^nd October

I met Clive and Pam again as we waited for the shuttle bus to take us to the festival. As happens at the festival, our paths would cross multiple times over the course of the next few days and it was always a pleasure to catch up with them and hear about what they had learned.

The first event for the day was the Festival Welcome and Keynote at the Indus Restaurant, consisting of a traditional Balinese welcome dance, a greeting from the Director and Founder of the festival, Janet DeNeefe and the Festival Keynote from Tari Lang[1].

The idea to create an Ubud Writers and Readers Festival came as a direct response to the Bali bombings in 2002. 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’. Events such as the 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.

Oppression is based on controlling thought but the festival is a celebration of words and conversations, which are vital for connection, healing and understanding as well as opening our minds to new perspectives, ideas and inspirations.

The guiding theme this year was Samarasa: Awareness, Empathy, Action. Samarasa originates in Sanskrit philosophy and emphasises the harmony between Citta (mind), Rasa (heart) and Karsa (action), inviting us to reflect on how thought, feeling and action can exist in harmony, with awareness bringing clarity, empathy building connection and action turning insight into purpose. The way I see it is awareness leads to empathy which leads to action.

After this session I caught up with Louise and her friend Karin. Louise had remembered a conversation we had at last years festival about the Murray Darling Basin and it was great to catch up with her again. It is the fellowship with other attendees that also makes this festival so special and this being the fourth festival I have attended means there are now numerous people who attend each year that I recognise and catch up with. It really feels a bit like a family catching up each year.

Following the opening of the festival I stayed at the Indus Restaurant for the Various Roles of a Writer session. This session featured authors Santilla Chingaipe, Mohammed Massoud Morsi, and Louie Buana and was moderated by Georgina Godwin.

But before I get into what I learned I must make mention of Troy, the MC for this session. He reflected exactly what I love about the festival, its energy, thought and fellowship. As he said, “It is the world I want to live in and I don’t ever want to leave”. He also invited us to take a moment to pause and be present and this was a great way to introduce the session.

Here are some of the notes I took:

• A writer is never only a writer. Behind every story is a lifetime of experiences and encounters gathered away from the page.
• Fiction allows us to write about things we cant talk about.
• Curiosity breeds creativity.
• This is not a time for hope, it is a time for anger and action.
• We live within a system (be it political, economic) that is broken. It is controlled by the few who benefit from it, it must change if we are to regain our trust, confidence and freedoms.
• We need to get beyond ‘othering’ based on race, gender and sexuality and stop looking to blame others such as the immigrant.
• Anger and upheaval is required if we are to change for the better.
• There are those of us privileged to write about and promote freedom but there are also those of us fighting for their freedom and the gap between these two is closing.

Reflecting on this session I must acknowledge the importance of the moderator.  Georgina Godwin was brilliant guiding this conversation. The moment that will stay with me is when Louie Buana, from Makassar, told a story about when he was in Melbourne he met several Yolŋu people, who called him WaWa (or brother) and got very emotional. The Makassans had traded with people along the northern coast of Australia (including the Yolŋu) for centuries before European invasion with some intermarriage between the peoples and several First Peoples visiting and/or relocating to Makassar over those years. The relationship between the Makassans and First People of Australia is detailed in The First Inventors.

As I waited for the next session I caught up with Johnathon (and later Janeen). I befriended Johnathon and Janeen at the festival in 2024 and it was great to see them again. Unfortunately they were unable to attend last year and as age is catching up with them it is likely this will be their last visit to the festival. I love spending time with Johnathon and Janeen and we caught up several times over the next few days.

The next session at the Indus Restaurant was Why We Say the Things We Say. This session featured Ivan Lanin and Sumanto Chatto-padhyay and moderated by Cassie Lawrence. This session was all about the origin of words and the stories behind them and reminded me of listening to Professor Roland Sussex on the ABC.

I learned that the words orchid and avocado both derive from words meaning testicle and that the English looted many words from India, including the word loot. I also learned a new word, ‘glossophilia’ which means a deep and passionate love for language, whether it is one’s native tongue or foreign languages, encompassing an appreciation for linguistics, the evolution of speech, and the diversity of dialects.

This session had me reflecting on how we are so interconnected across the world and this is evident in the shared words and languages. This was a fun session with many laughs and as a result I will check out Sumanto’s YouTube channel called The English Nut where he shares videos highlighting the many nuances of the English language.

Next up at the Indus Restaurant was Maria Guriti Amote, Raisa Kamila, and Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes talking with Olive Hatteem in the session titled Our History, Our Hands.

History has been written by those who held power rather than those who lived it and this session celebrated writing as a powerful tool of reclamation and agency.

What drew me to this session was Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes. He is an Ethiopian poet and storyteller from the historic town of Lalibela. His bilingual memoir Trials of Hope won the 2024 Hungerford Award and tells his life story from a boy shepherd to a human rights academic. Drawing on ancient Ethiopian traditions and African epistemologies, his work challenges colonial erasures and celebrates communal values.

I am fascinated by Ethiopia as it is the only African country to have never been colonised. I highlight in my book the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church which emerged in the 4th century. The Ethiopian Bible is one of the oldest versions of the Bible. Containing 81 books it is the largest and most diverse Bible, in comparison, the King James Bible contains 66 books. It is fascinating how different cultures have preserved, interpreted and cherished these biblical texts.

I enjoyed listening to Yirgo, especially when he detailed how Ethiopians regard themselves based on age. Up until 20 all children are given freedom to explore and learn but from ages 20 to 40 they are referred to as fire or dangerous, from 40 to 60 they are referred to as water (calm, meditative) and anyone over 60 is regarded as soil (sacred) and that all generations need to be connected. He also highlighted that Ethiopians were writing books when the English were still slaves to the Romans.

However the standout from this session was listening to Maria Guriti Amote. She is a young woman from West Papua and her powerful words and aura reminded me of the likes of Helena Gualinga, Grace Tame, and Melati Wijsen who have appeared at previous festivals. She is an Indonesian student activist advocating for Indigenous peoples’ rights. She has witnessed mass land clearing for sugarcane, rice, and oil palm stripping the Malind and Yei peoples of their land, with their food sources, medicines, and cultural identity now at risk. In response, she mobilises young people through film screenings, discussions, and silent protests, consistently voicing Indigenous rights through peaceful action. She asserts that customary land is not for sale and must be defended for future generations.

What I find astounding is that the Indonesians were subject to Dutch colonisation and all the oppression and exploitation that entailed and are now facilitating the same exploitation on the people of West Papua. I make the point that two wrongs don’t make a right in my book when referring to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians despite European Jews being mass murdered during the holocaust.

My final reflection from this session is writing is a political act, as is making music and art.

It was time to leave the Indus Restaurant and head down to the Valley Stage for the Comic Relief in Memoir Writing session. This was moderated by Jewel Topsfield and featured Candice Chung, Patrick Freyne and Valiant Budi. Memoirs are an intimate window into the author’s life and a daunting undertaking. They can reveal dark secrets of oneself or loved ones and order to lighten a dark situation we can use comic relief in our storytelling.

However, I must mention that on my way down to the Valley Stage I ran into Eva Fernandes. Eva is one of my favourite moderators and presenters and I last ran into her at the George Town Literary Festival last year. Anyway, it was great to have a chat albeit I was disappointed that Eva’s session titled Poetic Journalism (which featured Anthony Tao, Arantza Garcia Ferrand and Baskara Putra) had been rescheduled to the last session today which I wasn’t able to make as I had already purchased tickets to a Special Event at the same time. I ran into Eva a couple more times over the course of the festival and it is always great to catch up with her.  

Anyway, the Comic Relief in Memoir Writing session was a lot of fun even though it also covered the importance of vulnerability in sharing stories, the highlight was listening to Patrick Freyne who was very funny and I could listen to his Irish accent all day.

My last session for the day was at the Agung Stage. Literature: A Mirror to the World. Moderated by Gill Westaway and featuring Adania Shibli, Kiran Desai and Raisa Kamilia. This session discussed the risks writers take when challenging the systems that shape society. Here are some of my thoughts from this session:

• We should all put ourselves in the position of the Palestinian. We are all Palestinian.
• Rich people don’t see poor people whom they rely on to be sustained.
• I hope we are not learning to be helpless about the future.
• We must keep the mind alert and the spirit strong.
• I don’t want power, I want community.

That was the end of the main programme for me today, however as previously mentioned, I had signed up to attend a special event this evening called The Bandung Conference of Writers. This event was held at Plataran Ubud Hotel and Spa, a very flash resort on the other side of Monkey Forest.

This event featured an array of writers from across the world, including Mal Al-Nakib (Kuwait), Mohammed Massoud Morsi (Egypt-Denmark), R. Abdul Azis (Bandung), Randa Abdell-Fattah (Australia), Santilla Chingaipe (Australia), Sisonke Msimang (Australia), Srijato (india), Tari Land (UK) and Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes (Ethiopia), and was moderated by Raza Goraya from Pakistan.

I write about the Bandung Conference in my book … here is an extract.

One important event in global history was the Bandung Conference held in 1955, attended by 29 Asian and African countries, many of which were newly independent, representing 1.5 billion people, well over half the world’s population at the time.

 The participants of the conference condemned colonialism, racial discrimination and segregation, they expressed support for people fighting for independence and advocated for economic and cultural cooperation among countries as well as peaceful resolution of conflicts. The conference invoked a ‘Bandung Spirit’, described as ‘the spirit of love for peace, anti-violence, antidiscrimination, and development for all without trying to intervene for one another wrongly, but to pay a great respect to one another’. The Bandung Spirit was the voice of the hundreds of millions who lived under colonial rule, speaking against the brutality of colonialism as well as their hope for a new world.[2]

According to David Van Reybrouck, the Bandung Conference was … the single event that did the most to spread the ideals of the Indonesian revolution around the world.[3]

Indonesia was the first country to declare independence and rid itself of colonial rule after World War Two, only two days after the fall of Japan. The Pancasila Doctrine is the foundational ideology of Indonesia, based on five principles; belief in God, a just and humane society, national unity, democracy and social justice for all citizens. These principles influenced the Panchsheel Agreement between China and India in 1954. This agreement was based on mutual respect for each other’s territory, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and cooperation for mutual benefit. These principles were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1957.[4]

The Dasasila, or ten principles, of Bandung elaborated on these principles of ‘peaceful coexistence’ and are still very much relevant today … Effectively, these principles argued for an international order based on the UN Charter, rather than one based on the creation of military blocs and the use of military force to shape the world and subvert sovereignty.[5]

The question posed to the panel was in the current political era, where neo-colonialism and global far-right nationalist policies continue to exist, where do we stand today and how do we move forward?

Each panelist had three minutes to provide their response to this question. There were so many great ideas, lines and quotes that I wish I noted down from this session. Each speaker was brilliant, but I was especially moved by Randa Abdell-Fattah, she is a very eloquent and passionate speaker, and I am looking forward to hearing more from her in the next couple of days. I have purchased her novel, Discipline, but have yet to read it. Randa will be at the Adelaide Writers Week next year and I encourage everyone to go along and listen to her.

So that was day one of the festival, full of fellowship, inspiration, ideas and storytelling. I am so grateful to be here and my cup is full. 

Day 2 – Friday 23^rd October

Today started early at Casa Luna for the Special Event, Bali’s Herbs and Remedies. This event was a walk into the rice fields which are only a couple of minutes’ from the main street. It’s one of the things I love about Ubud, one minute you can be in a busy street with traffic noise and pedestrians everywhere and within a couple of minutes you can find yourself in the serenity of the rice fields. As we were waiting for the event to start I chatted with Marlo, Betty and Lynn, they were all involved in the writing industry as authors and educators. Betty and Lynn run writing retreats and encouraged me to attend one, this was very enticing as they are held in Bowral, a beautiful part of the world.

The walk was led by Made Westi. He was born to a family of farmers and is co-founder of Nadis Herbal, spending his life learning the language of Ubud’s flora and how Ayurvedic wisdom and Balinese herbal tradition speak to one another. We learned about the subak, the irrigation system developed in the 9^th century that has bound Balinese agriculture, ritual and daily life together for over a thousand years. Made also taught us about the many uses of ‘bali pepper’ which grows all over Ubud as well as the use of citronella and lemongrass, giving each of us a gift of some natural insect repellent which came in handy.

What struck me when learning about the farming practices of the Balinese is how biodiversity is encouraged and forms part of the management of land, something we could learn from here in Australia. The biodiversity was evident throughout the landscape.

It should be noted that Ubud is not only recognised as a spiritual place, the name Ubud is derived from the word Ubad which means medicine as this is also a place where medicinal herbs and plants are found. We should remember that before there were pharmacies, there was the forest. Before there were doctors, there were the farmers and healers, the people who knew which leaf cooled a fever and which root eased a sore back. I am much more interested in using natural products to cure my ills than the pharmaceuticals we rely on in the Western world.

My first session of the main program today was The World Today: A Geopolitical Cacophony. This session was at the Agung Stage and featured Francesca Albanese, Nasir Tamara and Terence Ward, moderated by Michael Vatikiotis. I was really excited for this session as Francesca Albanese was the person I was most looking forward to listening to at UWRF26 and she did not disappoint. She was brilliant.

Francesca Albanese is an Italian international lawyer, scholar and the first woman to serve as UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, a mandate she has held since May 2022 and was reappointed to in 2025. Her 2024 report, Anatomy of a Genocide, argued that Israel’s conduct in Gaza met the legal threshold for genocide. Through rigorous legal analysis and fearless advocacy, she argues that a just future requires ending the genocide, the unlawful occupation and apartheid, so that Palestinians and Israelis alike can live in freedom, dignity and peace under international law.

I took copious notes during this session; here is a sample of the thoughts I jotted down:

• There are 65 wars currently being fought, more than ever before.
• In any global system there must be rules and law.
• Every human right has come from a struggle.
• Human rights are a sword and a shield.
• We are witnessed the breakdown of a multilateral world. The rule of law is being replaced with the rule of lawlessness.
• What is happening now is not new, the US have been picking fights every year since World War Two.
• Palestine shows us what colonisation is, driven by private interests be they military or surveillance.
• It used to be VOC and East India Company but now military corporations and Big Tech.
• Nations are not the ultimate decision makers, now being pushed by corporate and private interests.
• Multinational corporations control much of the power.
• We all have power as consumers – buy ethically!
• People are now investing/betting on war with funds going to military instead of schools and hospitals.
• The United States knew they were bombing a school in Iran. WTF.
• Militarism is the source of all issues. We need to unite the struggles be they colonialism, climate emergency or rise of fascism.
• Colonialism is the institutionalization of patriarchy,
• It’s not big brother we should be concerned about; it’s the big lie.

The next session I attended was Honest Histories at the Valley Stage. This was moderated by Mallence Bart-Williams and featured Afua Hirsch, Santilla Chingaipe, Tash Aw and Ziggy Ramo.

Documenting histories through fiction and non-fiction is the great task of literature. It is the storyteller’s duty to scrutinise, question, and seek the truth. To write history is to advocate its truth and influence the education of future generations.

I learned that the First Fleet of 1788 consisted of at least 15 convicts of African descent. By 1840 the number of Black transportees had risen to over 500. Among them were John Caesar, who became Australia’s first bushranger, and Billy Blue – the stylishly dressed ferryman who gave his name to Sydney’s Blues Point. These facts are found in Black Convicts by Santilla Chingaipe which will find its way to my bookshelf one day.

I left this session early as the air conditioners stopped and the tent turned into an oven within minutes.

I headed up to the Agung Stage for Matthew Campbell talking with Janet Steele about his book The Man Who Stole the Gods. In this book, Matthew examines the themes of war, culture, and art, why art is so important to a nation, and what it means when it is taken. In the aftermath of Cambodia’s civil war, temples that had stood for centuries were found ransacked – sacred sculptures hacked from pedestals, towering statues of Hindu gods and priceless relics of the Khmer Empire vanished. At the centre of this vast plunder was Douglas Latchford, whose decades-long obsession fuelled one of the most audacious cultural thefts of modern times.

This was theft at an industrial scale and occurred from 1968 to 1998 with the most destructive years being between 1995 and 1997.

This was a fascinating discussion and reminded me of last year’s session with Patrick Winn and his book Narcotopia. In Narcotopia, Patrick uncovers the truth behind Asia’s top drug-trafficking organisation, and shreds drug war myths and leads to a chilling revelation: the Wa syndicate’s origins are smudged with CIA fingerprints.

I am amazed at the tenacity and level of research and investigation these authors undertake for their books. Anyway, I have purchased The Man Who Stole the Gods and I look forward reading it.

This afternoon I attended the special event, Writers in Cafes, held at the Powder Room by R4D. This was a delightful event moderated by Julia Winterflood (Indonesia) and featured Ali Alshaali (UAE), I Wayan Arca Bertayasa (Indonesia), Irena Karpa (Ukraine), Rodney Glick (Australia) and Stefan Kutzenberger (Austria).

The focus of this session was coffee and we learned about farming, producing, selling and enjoying coffee and its role for writers in cafes. We also got to eat some delicious treats including two Ukrainian delights, Makivnyk a traditional poppy seed roll and Pyrizhky, a Ukrainian cabbage bun which tasted like a spring roll. 

After this event I wandered back to the festival to attend the final session of the day, The Practice of Resistance and Grace moderated by Georgina Godwin and featuring Francesca Albanese and Randa Abdel-Fattah whose work insists upon truth, resilience and our shared humanity. Together, they considered Palestine, resistance and grief, and asked how we continue to act with empathy, integrity and a commitment to justice.

It was unsettling listening to Francesca talk about the sanctions imposed on her by the United States which have nothing to do with anything other than retribution for telling the truth. These sanctions mean Francesca cant have a bank account as the Swift banking system run by the United States connects the worlds banking system. In 92% of the world’s countries there are at least three institutions that are connected to its network.

It was noted that Palestine is a portal to help us understand the world and is the epicentre of all issues be it the tech industry, militarisation and surveillance, environmental degradation and exploitation of resources. Furthermore, democracy is not about votes it’s about rights and humanity.

One point made at this session that resonated with me is we don’t inherit the world from our parents, we borrow it from our children.

I must mention Pham Doan Trang who was recognised during this session in solidarity for her detention for standing up for human rights. Pham Doan Trang is a Vietnamese writer, publisher, journalist, and pro-democracy activist currently imprisoned in Vietnam due to her writings in support of human rights. Trang was arrested by authorities in October 2020, and in December 2021 the People’s Court of Hanoi sentenced her to nine years in prison for ‘conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.’ After a court rejected her appeal in August 2022, Trang was transferred to An Phuoc Prison in Vietnam’s southern Binh Duong Province, a remote facility located 100 kilometres away from Ho Chi Minh City. Trang’s health has declined during her detention, and authorities have denied her access to medical treatment.

Day 3 – Saturday 24^th October

Francesca Albanese was first up on the Agung Stage this morning so I arrived early to get a good seat. I was sitting with Clive and Pam whom we met earlier. Francesca Albanese: When the World Sleeps was moderated by Todung Mulya Lubis.

Her latest book, When the World Sleeps: Stories, Words, and Wounds of Palestine, conveys the soul of a people through ten stories of resilience and humanity.

This was another poignant discussion and I was appalled at the way the Geneva Convention has been completely ignored in recent conflicts, be it in Ukraine or Palestine. To justify the killing of children because they ‘might’ become a terrorist one day defies any moral or ethical values. In my opinion killing civilians is the ultimate cowardice of a military power.

Francesca talked about the power of the BDS Movement. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.

Israel is occupying and colonising Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law.

BDS is now a vibrant global movement made up of unions, academic associations, churches, and grassroots movements across the world. Since its launch in 2005, BDS has had a significant impact and is effectively challenging international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.

I was sitting up the front for this session and it was a privilege to be so close to Francesca during this session. She is an amazing person and I hope that one day she becomes the Secretary General of the UN! She is the type of leader we need in the world.

My next session for the day was down at the Valley Stage. Violence of Culture was moderated by Petra Molnar and featured Michael Shaikh, Matthew Campbell and Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes.  This session explored the relationship between power and memory, and how communities resist cultural erasure by reclaiming histories, traditions, and ways of knowing.

I was particularly interested in the discussion around food and how war narrows food culture and results in losing recipes. This is evident in Afghanistan. Food is not just sustenance, it is history, identify and culture and sharing a meal is central to social life. When people don’t eat their own food they wither away and the example of the Rohingya people from Myanmar who are now refuges in Bangladesh was highlighted. The Rohingya in refugee camps are forced to eat food sourced from western countries which is nothing like their normal food yet they are located in an area/landscape very similar to home. The best thing for the health and wellbeing would be sourcing food from the local communities who eat similar food to them.

If we care about food we have to care about the people who produce it and cook it. Cooking your own food is a sovereign act and can be an act of defiance against those trying to repress a culture.

Matthew Campbell highlighted the role of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC Cam). DC-Cam has amassed an archive of well over a million items related to not only the history of the Khmer Rouge, but also the history of the Cambodian government, Southeast Asian history, the history of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and the history of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) support to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. It has become a critical source for respected information in the country and world; a grassroots organization that is a trusted voice for the interests of survivors of genocide and members of remote and marginalized communities. Furthermore, in collaboration with the International Center for Transitional Justice, DC-Cam also oversees, mentors, and supports an international consortium of documentation centres that share information, techniques and best practices related to the documentation and prevention of atrocity crimes and related acts.

The final points that resonated with me from this session is museums should tell the story of how artifacts have got there in the first place and no culture is superior to another. It seems much of what is found in our museums is the result of theft and exploitation. I encourage you to watch Stuff The British Stole on ABC iView. It is a great documentary series by Marc Fennell.

Next on at the Valley Stage was Burning Books, Accepting Artifice: Man or Machine? This session featured Marlowe Bandem, Richard King and Brian Lang and was moderated by Emily Broadmore, discussing the risks of an intellectual purge, and what happens when technological progress reshapes what it means to be human.

AI should adhere to human ethics and morality but what are the ethics and morals held by those who own it or even the ethics and morals that drive capitalism and colonialism (and Zionism). I agreed with the sentiment expressed during this session that it isn’t sentient technology to be afraid of it is unethical and unscrupulous humans who currently own the tech that I am afraid of.

Control of AI technology is essential but it is apparent this tech is already going rouge. I object to the fatalistic approach that tech equals progress and its just the way it is.

As our world races to build ever more powerful artificial intelligence, promising ultimate efficiency and control, we are left with a deeper, unsettling question: Which problem are we actually trying to solve here?

This is a question I pose in my book. The question posed during this session was why do we have AI at all?

Freedom is about agency, creativity and living all of our humanity. It is through art that we enter community with others.

I was saddened to hear that some publishers (mainly the big ones) are using AI to triage manuscripts.

The final thought that resonated with me from this session was books are the artifact of human civilisation and it is empathy which makes our writing human.

For something completely outside my usual interest I decided to stay on at the Valley Stage for Big Worlds for Little Reader. This session explored how Writing for young readers requires a special kind of magic, the ability to handle big themes with clarity, heart and imagination. This session featured Tsugaeda, Reda Gaudiamo, and Ken Kwek, moderated by Bea Bustamante.

All the authors on the panel started writing young people books after they became parents.

It was funny when the conversation went to talking about phones and there impact on our lives making the point that the culture of phones is exhausting and is contributing towards our attention spans reducing. Why do we just accept that? I guess it relates to the fatalism expressed in the previous session that our tech is progress so just accept it. Anyway, I found it quite ironic that while this part of the conversation was occurring the three young woman sitting in front of me were glued to their phones the whole time.

Writing kids books expresses the ultimate empathy as each author always tries to put themselves in the shoes of a young person in an attempt to make sense of the world for children. They also all expressed the belief that children are complete human beings who were just born later than us. Another important facet of writing for kids is instead of telling a lesson they invite the reader to sit with the feelings.

Anyway, this was an enlightening and enjoyable session and left me thinking that maybe I should write kids books as I have never grown up myself! Ha!

After thinking about children’s books it was now time to consider our forests. Our lives depend on forests. They are among the oldest living systems on Earth sustaining biodiversity and water systems, providing oxygen and carrying ancestral knowledge. Yet across Australia and Indonesia, forests continue to come under threat from commercial logging, development, and increasingly severe fires driven by the climate emergency. The next session I attending at the Agung Stage was The Forests Fury which asked the questions; What is lost when forests disappear, what can be done to protect them and what can our neighbouring countries learn from each other? This session was moderated by Suzy Hutomo and featured David Lindenmayer, Agung Wardana, and Inga Simpson.

At this session I was sitting next to Russell and Jody from Hobart. I recognised them from previous festivals and we had a great chat while waiting for the session to begin.

It is sobering to think that 60% of Australia’s forests have been cleared and 80% of what remains has been logged especially when forests are logged/disturbed they become more susceptible to fire. Throw in the climate emergency and we have a recipe for disaster as we saw during the Black Summer of 2019/20.

We need to forget the western idea of removing humans from the environment/forest and recognise that people living in these environments are its guardians. We also need to remember we are nature, not separate from it.

It is disheartening when we always talk about issues created by our exploitation but it is a common theme for much of the last 500 years or so, hence I refer to this period as the Age of Exploitation in my book. However, as mentioned during this session, there is hope and we only need to consider whales to recognise this. Just in the lifetime of David he has witnessed no whales travelling along the East Coast of Australia to now thousands making the migration. When we give nature space to heal it will recover.

Two final thoughts came from this session. First, despite everything the world is a beautiful place. Second, individuals can make a huge impact but collectively we could create the change we need to see in the world.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I wandered up to the Indus Restaurant for the How to Speak Planet Earth session. Featuring Kynan Tegar, Rebecca Higgie and Sekar Bestari, this discussion, led by Dian Purnomo, was about giving voice to ecosystems, exposing ecological injustice, and connecting scientific data with human empathy through the power of storytelling.

This was quite an emotional session especially listening to Kynan Tegar. She is an Indonesian storyteller from the Iban people of present-day West Kalimantan, on the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Through filmmaking, activism, and policy engagement, she aims to amplify the voices of indigenous communities, articulate the challenges they face, and explore emerging pathways in understanding what it means to be Indigenous. She talked about how Borneo has been burning for four months and how this is impacting her community. An example she used was one family who had to make the choice to not take their children to school as they needed the fuel to find water to drink. There is something manifestly wrong when the rainforest is struggling for water.

To speak planet Earth we first need to listen to it as well as those closest to it such as the indigenous peoples of the world.

The Earth has gone through six mass extinction events, it will be fine, but we will not be fine. Its not about saving the Earth, it is about saving ourselves.

That was it for the main program for me today. But I had one more special event at the Honeymoon Garden which I had been looking forward to. The event, In The Shadow of Shiva: Music and Poetry. This event featured Anthony Tao (China), Irena Karpa (Ukraine), Robin Block (The Netherlands), Ruby Singh (Canada), Wayan Yudane (Indonesia), Wilis Permadi (Indonesia) and Ziggy Ramo (Australia).

Ziggy Ramo was the hook for me to attend this event as he has become one of my favourite artists. His tracks, Could Never Be Me and Banamba made my top ten for the Hottest 100 in 2025 and 2024 respectively. It was a bit wet tonight so Ziggy performed without a mic with us sitting around him. It was a great little set capped off with his rendition of Little Things, originally released as From Little Things Big Things Grow written by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody. Ziggy had us all singing along with him and it was a highlight of UWRF26.

Another highlight from this event was meeting Angela. She is a young woman from California who was attending the festival for the first time. We had a great conversation, she has been travelling around Asia and may come to Australia at some stage. Anyway, its these conversations and the fellowship with other attendees that also make the festival so special.

That was the end of Day 3, only one more day to go, the time seems to have gone so quickly, I guess time flies when you are having fun.

Day 4 – Sunday 27^th October

This morning at breakfast I met Miriam and Andrew, they are from Strathalbyn. They are in Ubud to celebrate their friend’s 60^th birthday but were interested to learn about UWRF26. Miriam is also of Dutch descent so it was great to connect over the food and culture we share. I was also interested in learning about their experiences working with indigenous communities in the outback.

For the last couple of festivals I have spent the last day at the Indus Restaurant stage. Its my favourite stage and I enjoy whatever topics are discussed. I had similar plans today but as you will see, I wandered down to the Valley Stage for the last two session of the day this time around.

I arrived early before anyone else, but it wasn’t long before other attendees arrived. Sitting next to me was a wonderful lady called Sheena. We had a great conversation but I was saddened to hear she was the grandmother of a young man who sustained permanent brain damage due to a coward punch in Hindley Street. This was in the news just before I came to Ubud, the man who hit her grandson essentially got off with no conviction. Hopefully some justice prevails as the family are seeking a review of the sentence. Sheena was particularly interested in the Our Town movement which I have become involved in through Our Town Berri. She was also interested in ChangeFest which I have attended for the last two years. She gave me her WhatsApp number, and I have subsequently sent her more information about these two movements. I also shared some of the tools I used to help transcribe some of my writing as she is contemplating writing a memoir. By the sounds of it, Sheena’s memoir would be a great read, and I wish her all the best with it.

First up on the Indus Restaurant stage was The Architecture of Grief featuring Brian Khrisna, Peter Godwin, and Waitatiri for a conversation led by Jewel Topsfield about writing in the midst of loss, making meaning from absence, and learning to live in a world transformed by grief.

Grief is rarely a straight line. It is a landscape we inhabit, one that reshapes our inner and outer worlds. Loss changes our lives on a structural level: physical spaces are left empty by those who are gone, relationships are redrawn, and our inner frameworks are demolished and rebuilt. This session asked, how do we endure these changes? How do we keep living when everything is different?

Here are some of my notes from this session:

• People who survive a suicide attempt generally reflect that their reason to kill themselves was silly. They don’t want to die as such but just want whatever pain they are feeling to disappear.
• Books about suicide and bullying are not trying to find a solution but are seeking understanding of the issue.
• In our patriarchal society it is perceived that to express pain is to express weakness.
• How do we process humans mass inhumanity to other humans? Looking at the conflicts around the world it is easy to lose confidence in humanity.
• The antidote for depression and anxiety is connection and connection comes from communication.
• Humour is often the best way to deal with or introduce difficult topics.

This was a great conversation, albeit tackling difficult topics, and I must give a nod to Jewel Topsfield who was an awesome moderator for this discussion. The authors were also brilliant in sharing their stories, vulnerabilities and wisdom.

Between this session and next I got to catch up with Johnathon and Janeen again. They are two of my favourite people that I have met at the festival. Johnathon now has all my contact details and I hope we catch up in Adelaide soon. If you are reading this Johnathon and Janeen, thank you for your friendship and being such wonderful people.

Next up on the Indus Restaurant stage was Real Stories, Magical Belongings. This session was moderated by John H McGlynn and featured Geia Laconi and Raoul de Jong.

It was a delight listening to these two authors. Geia Laconi is an Italian writer who was born on the Indonesian island of Sumatra to an Italian mother and an Indonesian father. She grew up in Florence, Italy, and her work as an educator reflects her commitment to giving voice to marginalised young people through creative writing. After many journeys and experiences around the world, she now lives in a small town in the Apennine Mountains. She is the author of Figlia dell’uomo tigre.

Raoul de Jong is a Dutch writer whose work blends memoir, fiction, history, and spiritual inquiry. His adventurous perspective is rooted in a life of travel: at nineteen he crossed West Africa, survived New York on fifty dollars, and later walked from Rotterdam to Marseille in honour of his dog Puck. These journeys inform his literary exploration of heritage and hidden histories, evident in his novel Jaguarman.

The discussion covered an array of topics including the magic of synchronicities and coincidence, the power of storytelling and the way humans have survived on Earth for so long by regarding the landscape as sacred and spiritual. The point made that resonated most with me was to not be afraid of your power and men can be both strong and gentle.

The venue started filling up with women for the next session although this is not unusual as woman easily outnumber men at the festival. This session was titled Is Feminism a Good Word? Featuring Kadek Sonia Piscayanti, Sisonke Msimang, and Zainah Anwar, this conversation was led by Michelle Neeling and was about the misunderstandings, challenges, and promises of modern feminism, and what the future of gender equality might look like.

Sisonke Msimang was the woman who picked up the unexploded bomb at the Invasion Day protest in Perth earlier this year and while she advised us that that wasn’t the best idea she did tell her story about how she was essentially not believed by the police who dismissed her initially. I guess they didn’t want to listen to a black woman. Sisonke also praised the South African Constitution as one of the most progressive in the world. The South African Constitution guarantees gender equality and prohibits unfair discrimination on the basis of gender, sex, pregnancy, and related grounds, supported by institutional mechanisms like the Commission for Gender Equality.

I have written about the South African constitution in previous blogs, it is a document that invokes pride and inspiration and we could follow their example here in Australia where we cant even agree to make very minor changes to what is a very uninspiring constitution. Here is a link to the South African Constitution, check out the preamble, it is brilliant and the expresses the sentiment we need in Australia’s constitution and society, especially when we have the likes of ‘One Nation’ and our mainstream media wanting to divide us and appealing to our worst selves.

At one point during the discussion the impact of smart phones was raised. It was observed that the camera used to be a tool to look out to the world however the camera in our phone has a become a tool to look inwards and is changing the way we view ourselves making us more worried about appearances and becoming more individualistic.

A few other points raised in this discussion included; hope is important but not a strategy, poverty is undignifying and violent and male entitlement does much to damage our psyche and finally to be human is to be kind and compassionate.

Solidarity as Cross-Cultural Exchange was the next session at Indus Restaurant. This session was about transnational solidarity, and how cultural exchange and education can foster empathy and inspire collective action. This conversation was led by Ege Dündar and featured Irena Karpa, Stefan Kutzenberger, and Yeng Chheangly.

Here are some notes from this discussion:

• If we don’t fight for culture what is there worth fighting for?
• Dictators and authoritarians see culture and identity as a threat.
• The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia disliked anyone educated, and just wearing glasses was a sign of intelligence and thus were killed.
• Even during the Ukrainian war people are creating beautiful things be it art, food and music.
• War changes our soul. Irena Karpa shared a story of an artist friend who before the war couldn’t stand the sight of blood, she is now a paramedic helping with the war.
• Austria was much more welcoming towards refugees when they were a poor country compared to when they have become wealthy. Hungarians were welcomed with open arms in the 1950’s, Yugoslavs were welcomed in the 1990’s but with some right wing complaints however Ukrainian refugees have seen much more resentment to their presence in Austria.
• 30% of Australians now support a political party with similar values and policies of the Nazi Party.
• Art and literature are an important means to combat fascism.
• People are being manipulated by fake news from Russia. The example was used where a person living in an occupied area of Ukraine denied that Kyiv was being attacked despite their relatives there telling them their lived experience.
• Culture can never be confined to borders and is being transferred between people all the time. During this process culture is transformed.
• And finally, always use trusted sources of information and trust your intuition (gut).

A picture of Ahmed Mansoor was displayed during this session in solidarity with him and to highlight the injustice of his imprisonment. The moderator, Ege Dündar, is a Board member of PEN International which supports unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations. Every day, countless writers are detained, harassed, persecuted or even killed for the practice of their profession. PEN International do not let their voices be silenced and raise awareness of their cases, campaign against abuses and lobby governments for imprisoned writers’ release. They demand investigations into cases of torture, disappearances, and killings and show solidarity, provide encouragement and hope to persecuted writers and their families. By harnessing the power of their members and supporters, they work for a world where the right to freedom of expression is respected everywhere.

Ahmed Mansoor is an Emirati poet, blogger and human rights activist who is serving a 25 year prison term on vaguely worded national security charges and has reportedly been kept in an isolation ward in Al-Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi, where he is being held in a cell with no bed, no water and no access to a shower, significantly impacting his health.

My next session was down at the Valley Stage, I decided to head down there for Speaking of Wellness, the hook for me to attend was listening to Brigid Delaney, who is the author of Reasons Not to Worry which is a great read. In this book Brigid shows us how we can apply the lessons from the Stoics to our modern lives in a way that allows us to regain a sense of agency and tranquillity. She was on this panel as she is the co-creator and associate producer of the Netflix smash hit Wellmania, a comedy-drama series about a high-flying food writer, Liv Healy, who must overhaul her unhealthy lifestyle to regain her US green card, navigating the absurdities of the wellness industry along the way.

Anyway, Brigid was joined by Jordan Stephens and Valerie Patkar, with moderator Chaitanya Srivastava, for what became a fun and enjoyable conversation that really just took the piss out of the wellness industry. Jordan and Brigid were particularly funny and it was great to have a laugh after listening to some serious topics earlier today.

My main take away from the session is we need to find our own wellness practice; it doesn’t have to be elaborate and could be as simple as taking a walk or having a chat. For some it might just be getting out in nature, as Jordan Stephens said he feels less alone amongst the trees than he does in a crowd of busyness.

My wellness comes from attending Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, it nourishes and replenishes me. Being with kindred spirits lifts us and I feel that at Ubud.

My final session for the festival was also at the Valley Stage. I decided to attend The Need for Literary and Cultural Institutions Today. The hook for attended this session was listening to Janet Deneefe the Festival Founder and Director. She was joined by Peter Godwin and Sanjoy K. Roy with Gill Westaway leading the conversation.

Writers’ festivals have to build trust by enabling different perspectives, unfortunately the Adelaide Writers Week has lost its trust following the debacle earlier this year resulting in its cancellation.

Here are some notes from this session:

• An open mind is an exhausting thing to keep but it is what keeps us young and vibrant.
• The power of story is unfathomable and novelists are radical empathists.
• Literature is the antidote to the algorithm.
• We are losing the ability to debate and share a drink/meal afterwards.
• Awareness and empathy need to come together to create action, and this will bring change.
• Diversity is what makes the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival so special.
• We can build community through food, art and music.
• Imagination comes from the heart.

Literary and cultural institutions are spaces where societies can question, reflect, remember and imagine new possibilities. In a world of fractured public discourse, where truth is increasingly contested, these spaces are more vital than ever.

This was a great note to end UWRF26 on, reminding us of the importance of it and similar festivals across the world. I am privileged to be attending the George Town Literary Festival again at the end of November and after listening to this session I am keen to one day attend the Jaipur Literature Festival which sounds like an amazing event.

Thank you to everyone involved with UWRF26 for putting on another awesome event. And thanks to all my fellow attendees who also make this event such a pleasure.

My final note for this blog is I enjoyed one further day in Ubud before returning home. I enjoyed breakfast with Miriam and Andrew again but this time we were joined by their friends Dennis and his wife (my apologies as I didn’t catch her name). They invited me to join them for dinner at Nicks Restaurant. They had also invited Ian who they had met around the traps and who had also attended UWRF26. Anyway, this ended up being a fantastic night of great food, many laughs and reminding me that a stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet. I now regard all these people my friends and I hope to see them all again one day.

Thank you for listening.

All the best.

If you enjoyed this blog, you may enjoy some of my others …

UBUD WRITERS AND READERS FESTIVAL

2025 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival

2024 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival

2023 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival

CHANGEFEST

Reflections from ChangeFest 2025

Reflections from ChangeFest 2024

GEORGE TOWN LITERARY FESTIVAL

2025 George Town Literary Festival

BOOK REVIEWS

‘A Different Kind of Power’ by Jacinda Ardern

Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman

Patriot by Alexei Navalny

OTHERS

LOXTON … Why I Love Where I Live

Call it for what it is …

Where’s my Voice …!?

Food Glorious Food

Some Thoughts About Politics

Some Thoughts About Religion

Some reflections on Afghanistan

My Plotted History of Humanity – Part 1 – The Pleistocene

Reflections of 20 odd years in Local Government

#BlackLivesMatter … do they really?

What’s So Magic About Mushrooms?

Consciousness – the path to our new ‘ism’?

COVID-19 … The crisis we had to have?

[1] Tari Lang, author of My Neighbour, The Dictator: A Rare First-Hand Memoir of Indonesia’s Pivotal Year, 1965, is an international businesswoman who has built a long career working across the United Kingdom, the United States, Asia, and the Gulf and Arab States. Born to an Indonesian father and a British mother, both radicals, she became heavily involved in politics from a young age. Her experiences during the 1965 coup profoundly shaped her life and led to her memoir My Neighbour, the Dictator: A Rare First-Hand Memoir of Indonesia’s Pivotal Year, 1965. She moved to the United Kingdom at eighteen to pursue her career in international business and reputation management. She now serves on the boards of several cultural and creative organisations. Tari lives in Edinburgh and France, is married to a Scot, and has eight grandchildren.

[2] Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, 2025, ‘The Bandung Spirit’, Dossier no. 87, April 2025.

[3] Van Reybrouck, D., 2020, ‘Revolusi’, WW Norton & Company, page 492

[4] Van Reybrouck, D., 2020, ‘Revolusi’, WW Norton & Company, page 492.

[5] Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, 2025, ‘The Bandung Spirit’, Dossier no. 87, April 2025.