Staff Picks // Ayundari Gunansyach

Who would know the Festival’s program better than the staff? In this blog series, we interview UWRF staff about what events they want to see or who they are excited to meet the most. This week, we start with Ayundari Gunansyach, the Festival’s Marcomm Manager. 

Ayu has been with the Festival since 2016 when she started as the National Media Coordinator. During the Festival you can find her sitting in the back row with her laptop open, posting the latest updates on social media, working on videos with the Festival’s videographers, or hanging out at the Box Office overseeing tickets and merchandise sales.

Workshop | Writing Intimacy

Writing intimate scenes in fiction is complex. Will readers laugh? What will my parents think? In this post-Christian Grey world, it’s harder than ever to write authentically about the bedroom. This no-holds-barred workshop will explore the use of fictional intimacy to show yearning, fear, pain, hope, vulnerability, and tenderness.

“I finished the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy in just one week – it’s my guilty pleasure, and honestly the intimate scenes in those books, in my opinion, are not the best. I’m curious to know how to write intimate scenes that would make my skin flutter.”

Festival Club | Jessica Jackley and Reza Aslan: An Interfaith Life

Indonesia has one of the world’s most religiously diverse populations – but can different faiths co-exist in a marriage? With interfaith unions on the rise, Christian Jessica Jackley and Muslim Reza Aslan think they can. Join them for a deeply personal chat about different backgrounds, shared values, raising kids – and how essentially all marriages bring together two people with different beliefs.

“My husband and I are in an interfaith marriage and we had to go abroad to get married because the law on interfaith marriage is still ambiguous in Indonesia. It’s hard, but it’s also fun, because we get to have more holy days. It would be interesting to know how other interfaith marriages work.”

Live Music & Arts | Piknik Puisi dan Ekspresi

As the sun sets, head to Taman Puisi for an hour devoted to your own writing and expression. Piknik Puisi dan Ekspresi (Poetry and Expression Picnic) is open to all word weavers wishing to share their works with kindred spirits and appreciative audiences.

“I always love poetry and I think poets are the bravest people. Taman Puisi is the mini stage for poets to express themselves and get heard, and will be held around sunset time, making this event a romantic one.”

Main Program | Read to Me: Mother Tongue

We’ve gathered a stellar line up of UWRF’s finest to regale you with readings in their mother tongues, from Turkey to East Nusa Tenggara. There’s nothing left for you to do but pick up some lunch from a Festival food stall, sit back and soak up the sounds of a good story.

“Foreign language is always fascinating for me and thanks to this event, I will get to hear readings in different languages. Also, this session is perfect when you want to relax a bit during lunch time while getting your soul and mind fed as well.”

Main Program | Megan K. Stack: Women’s Work

Women employing women, mothers employing mothers: hiring domestic help has long been the solution for mothers seeking work/family balance. Former war journalist and new mother Megan K. Stack examines class, privilege and the apportioning of labour when faced with the inequalities of parenthood, and reflects on how her life becomes intertwined with those of the women who work for her.

“When Julia, my colleague, told me about this book, I knew that I had to read it. My mother is a career woman and she had three or four hired helpers at home to help her raise her children. It’s a very common thing in Jakarta, where I grew up. But that practice is not always approved by society, and there were times when people thought that having help at home made my mom less of a woman. I would like to hear directly what Megan and other audience members think of this practice, because I definitely have my own opinion on this.”

If you think Ayu’s picks are interesting click here to purchase your 4-Day or 1-Day Main Program Pass, or visit the individual event pages for Workshop tickets. But Festival Club and Taman Puisi are totally free! See you from 23–27 October.

Comments are closed.