Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2009
from guest blogger Katie Jacobs in Ubud.


Last night was the unofficial kick off of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival with a sunset party for early arriving media and writers at the Four Seasons Sayan.
The setting itself made it worthwhile attending on a platform in the middle of a huge lotus pond suspended 500m above the valley floor in the middle of a natural jungle amphitheatre.

Thanks to a highly enthusiastic but directionally challenged driver we arrived just as the formalities ended but luckily enough at the same time as Fatima Bhutto; poet, journalist and Benazir Bhutto's niece who I'd noted as my number one hope to meet at the festival.
We had a lively discussion on the pros and cons of Facebook (mostly pros) and Twitter (mostly cons) as well the travails of being vegan in Pakistan. She was delightful, open and friendly and very excited about attending as many sessions as she can while she's here.

Everyone then adjoined to The Royal Pita Maha for a traditional Balinese welcome dance and feast in a Royal Balinese garden.

We sat at a table of ten writers from around Asia, including Lloyd Jones, another New Zealand participant, discussing Burma, America's place in the world, Dalmatian wine pioneers and of course cricket.
Pic left, NZ food writer/cookbook author Lauraine Jacobs with NZ author Lloyd Jones, both guest apeakers at the Festival..

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