UBUD, BALI—The 23rd Ubud Writers & Readers Festival opens today, bringing together writers, thinkers and activists from Indonesia and across the globe to explore how stories can sharpen our awareness, deepen our empathy and move us to action.

Running from 21 to 25 October 2026 under the theme Samarasā: Awareness. Empathy. Action., Southeast Asia’s leading festival of words and ideas once again brings people together to discuss the stories and ideas shaping our world. Across five days, more than 300 speakers from over 30 countries, half of them Indonesian, will take part in over 250 events, ranging from panel discussions and in-conversations to Special Events, Masterclasses and free Book Launches.

“To gather so many voices from across Indonesia and the world in one place is, above all, an act of listening,” said Janet DeNeefe, Founder and Director of the Festival. “Samarasā invites us to step beyond our own experiences, to meet one another with deeper understanding, and to imagine new ways of responding to the world around us. In a time of uncertainty and division, we hope audiences leave Ubud not only moved by what they have heard, but ready to carry those conversations into their everyday lives.”

Leading the international line-up is Francesca Albanese, lawyer, scholar and the first woman to serve as UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. She appears in conversation about her latest book, When the World Sleeps: Stories, Words, and Wounds of Palestine, which conveys the soul of a people through ten stories of resilience and humanity.

Meanwhile, the Festival’s Special Events take conversations into some of Ubud’s most distinctive spaces. At Oaken Lab Ubud, Georgina Godwin, Books Editor at Monocle Radio and host of Meet the Writers, records two live sessions. In On the Record: Katie Kitamura, she explores the craft behind Kitamura’s Booker-shortlisted novel Audition. In On the Record: Tari Lang, she turns to Lang’s memoir My Neighbour, the Dictator, which recounts Indonesia’s 1965 coup through the eyes of her fourteen-year-old self.

After the sessions with Georgina Godwin, the evening continues at The Oaken Stillroom, where Indonesian DJs Ebes and TOPHER take the decks on Friday and Kai Kai on Saturday, playing everything from jazz to fusion. Guests can enjoy scent-inspired cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks alongside small plates rooted in local ingredients.

Taking on the forces shaping society today, The Bandung Conference of Writers at Plataran Ubud Hotel & Spa brings together Randa Abdel-Fattah, and Sisonke Msimang, among others, to revisit the 1955 Asian-African Conference and ask what role writers play in confronting neocolonialism and far-right nationalism. At Cucu Betutu, Contemporary Bali with Jean Couteau traces how tourism has reshaped Balinese identity, faith and traditions of tolerance.

Others draw on the island’s landscape and lore. At Taman Dedari, Vincenzo Latronico, Tina Chang and Zainah Anwar share poetry and prose in Becoming Ourselves. At Honeymoon Garden, Sanjoy K. Roy, Andrea Acri and Bea Bustamante explore myth and spirituality in Gods, Myths and Storytellers. After dark, Ziggy Ramo, Wayan Gde Yudane and Irena Karpa fill the garden with music and poetry in In the Shadow of Shiva.

Closer to home, the Festival will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to John H. McGlynn. Since co-founding the Lontar Foundation in 1987, he has translated and edited more than a hundred works into English, from the memoirs of Pramoedya Ananta Toer to the voices of a new generation. “Translation helps create connections across languages and cultures, allowing Indonesian stories to reach international readers,” said McGlynn.

“For nearly half a century, John has been one of the most devoted bridges between Indonesian literature and the wider world,” said Janet DeNeefe. “Through Lontar, writers from every corner of the archipelago have found readers far beyond its shores, and many readers abroad first met Indonesia through his translations. His legacy is a literature that no longer waits to be discovered, but takes its place confidently on the world stage.”

The Festival will also present the 2026 Sitor Situmorang Award to Arianto Adipurwanto, an emerging Indonesian writer selected through a collaboration between UWRF, Yayasan Sitor Situmorang, and Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival. The award celebrates Sitor Situmorang’s literary legacy while creating opportunities for Indonesian writers to connect with international audiences, including through Arianto’s participation in the Writers Unlimited Festival in The Hague in January 2027.

From the garden stage to the wider community, this year’s Festival is made possible by the support of its partners and sponsors. Among them, Permata Bank, together with MAIA Awards and QM Financial, presents a session at Sudamala Resort Ubud exploring how understanding people’s circumstances can lead to more informed and inclusive financial decisions. Entry is free with registration through the Permata ME app.

“It is a pleasure for Permata Bank to be part of the 2026 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. At Permata Bank, we believe that meaningful growth begins with understanding people, their aspirations, and what matters most to them. This is the essence of Growing Together, building relationships with awareness and empathy, and turning that understanding into meaningful action,” said Jemmy Toding, Division Head, East Java and Bali Region, at Permata Bank. “Through this collaboration, we hope to contribute to conversations that make financial education more accessible, inclusive, and relevant to people from all walks of life.

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

For inquiries or interview requests with Janet DeNeefe or any of the Programme team members, please contact Uniph, Media Relations Coordinator, via WhatsApp at +62 857 2580 9139 or via email at: uniph@yayasansaraswati.org.

The full programme can be accessed at ubudwritersfestival.com/daily-schedule. Free programmes, such as Book Launches and Film Screenings, can be filtered in the search. The complete speaker lineup is available at ubudwritersfestival.com/speaker.

4-Day and 1-Day Festival Passes, giving access to the Main Programme with over 100 sessions across the four days, are now on sale at ubudwritersfestival.com/tickets. Special Events, Masterclasses and Cultural Workshops are separately ticketed special programmes.