Blog

Why do so many people keep a diary? Do people write for themselves or in hope others will eventually read it? It is a way to remember our lives, connect to God, can keeping a diary become an addiction?

Poet Norbert Bugeja from Malta and German writer Thorsten Becker today shared their diaries and thoughts on one of the world’s most continuous and oldest forms of written word.

Norbert keeps a diary in the form of poems. He writes in the evening, every evening, and according to him “it is like an addiction”.

Here’s some lovely news for a rainy day! Tonight (Saturday Oct 8^th) you’ll have the chance to bid on two mountain bikes, donated by Polygon and valued at $500 each.

This great auction is open to everyone with tickets for the highly anticipated Paul Kelly concert at Betelnut.

All auction items will be available for previewing tonight at Betelnut (next door to Casa Luna) from 7.30pm.

All winning bids will go towards supporting the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. Happy bidding!

Heading to an event called ghouls, goblins and fantasmagoricals was always bound to stir the imagination, and I have to say I feel like taking a walk on the dark side after spending the afternoon in the company of some of the most hilarious writers in town. 

A moderator can make or break a session, creating spaces in the landscape of a theme into which the writer can unfold, spread themselves a little and show their readers who they truly are.

Alex Miller didn’t write his latest book, Autumn Laing.  She did.  Born in a moment as Miller sat watching squirrels play in a London park, Autumn Laing is a woman with “a resurgence of venomous energy”, a woman who has become “the sort of power we all want to be”, brave enough to front her own darknesses, ready to tie up the ends.

Ubud, Thursday 6th October: as the rain poured down outside, I sat waiting in anticipation for the 'Generation Next - writing for the new millennium' session. With my Mac Book Air at the ready and surrounded by four others with laptops or ipads, I couldn't help but wonder "really, what could be next?"

Hands up who writes on an Apple computer? Hands up who types each tentative sentence knowing that this computer will handle their precious words with care, right their every wrong at the touch of a key, and eventually, whiz their hard work out there into the abyss for other people to enjoy?