The 2011 Ubud Readers and Writers Festival theme is Nandurin Karang Awak – Cultivate the Land Within. The theme is inspired by a line in Gaguritan Salampah Laku, a long poem in traditional metres. It was composed by Bali’s greatest Kawi-Wiku (poet-priest) Ida Pedanda Made Sidemen. From October 5 - 9, the brightest global writers will come together to debate the issues that nurture, feed and inspire people, in a celebration of stories and voices. It will include riters from China, Malta, Palestine, Israel, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, France, South Africa, Australia, the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Japan, Egypt, Colombia, Tunisia, New Zealand, Cuba, Russia, Germany, and from across the Indonesian archipelago. The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is the major project of the not-for-profit foundation, the Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati. It was first conceived of by Janet De Neefe, co-founder of the Foundation, as a healing project in response to the first Bali bombing, with the first event held in 2004. The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival mission is to create a world class literary event that brings together diverse Indonesian and international voices for dialogue and exchange in order to:

• share stories, ideas and their craft in the spirit of cross-cultural understanding;
• foster greater international awareness and understanding of Indonesian literary cultures;
• create opportunities for Indonesian writers to present their work to a global audience; and
• expose Indonesian audiences to the work of international writers.

Source: Ubud Writers and Readers Festival