The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival takes place October 1-5, 2014. With over 150 writers from more than 25 countries it’s truly a celebration of global issues, big ideas and extraordinary stories. A roving writing residency Island to Island involves Australian and Indonesian writers. This year’s theme, Saraswati: Wisdom & Knowledge is an exploration of the wisdom to be gained by creative expression. Queen of Crime and creator of much-loved series Wire in the Blood, Val McDermid will be jetting over from Scotland, while master novelist Amitav Ghosh joins us along with Pulitzer Prize-finalist Deborah Baker. Leading the vanguard for avant-garde Asian fiction is Chinese writer Can Xue and Japanese novelist Minae Mizumura, while ex-pat Malaysian Tash Aw continues to delight us. From Indonesia the Festival has invited publishing pioneer Goenawan Mohamad, intellectual Azyumardi Azra, art patron Agung Rai and Festival favourites Debra Yatim, Ahmad Fuadi and Ketut Yuliarsa. ‘Truman Capote with a machete’ Made Wijaya joins the line-up, as does How to act Indonesian YouTube hit sensation Sacha Stevenson, plus many more. Planned to lead the festival lineup, the appearance of Sir VS Naipaul has been cancelled - you can read more about the controversial circumstances of his withdrawal here ------------ A Roving Writing Residency with Australian and Indonesian writers Asialink Arts and Melbourne’s Emerging Writers Festival (EWF) present Island to Island, a roving writing residency featuring Australian writers Gillian Terzis and André Dao, and Indonesian writers Maggie Tiojakin and Ninda Daianti. The project takes place in multiple locations across Indonesia September-October 2014. Travelling across the country on buses, trains and ferries, the four writers will follow an itinerary driven by their creative and professional interests, spending time with local authors, thinkers and artists and exploring Indonesian culture and society. Live-blogging and generating video from the road, their travels will end in Bali at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) where they will participate in the festival program. Gillian Terzis, André Dao, Maggie Tiojakin and Ninda Daianti will be joined by additional Australian and Indonesian authors selected by the Melbourne Writers’ Festival for a fixed residency from 7-12 October. The structure of the residency will encourage cultural exchange and immersion between the participants, as well as allowing space for the writers to develop new work based on their experiences during the project. ------------- With literary lunches, workshops, in-depth conversations, children’s and youth events, twilight performances, film screenings, poetry slams, cultural masterclasses, art exhibitions, book launches and more, be sure not to miss Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, a world class event set in Bali’s cultural heartland. Planning a trip to Bali to the festival? Take a look at this Travelfish guide to getting the most out of your visit to the festival