The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is the major project of the Yayasan Saraswati. Founded in 2004, the Yayasan Saraswati is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation based in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival began as a healing and economic development project following the Bali bombings. The Festival aims to bring together writers, readers, artists and performers from around the world to: exchange information and ideas between the diverse cultures in Asia, the South Pacific and the West, thereby increasing cross-cultural understanding; foster greater public awareness and understanding of writing, cultures and issues in this region; create opportunities for emerging and established writers from our region to present their work in an international context and to participate in cross-cultural exchanges; foster ongoing creative partnerships between writers in the Asia-Pacific region; support and provide educational programs for young Indonesians to reach their full potential.

One of our key aims is to include Australian writers in the dialogues that take place at the Festival, and to have the opportunity to share and exchange their views and ideas with their Asian counterparts.  As the preeminent literary event in Indonesia, the Festival plays a key role in showcasing Australian writers to the Asian region, to readers, publishers, other arts organisations and literary festivals whose representatives regularly attend, looking for writers for their own programs and other projects.

Why we are Crowdsourcing?

In the light of our recent funding loss, we are stretching our 2011 theme, Cultivate the Land Within, in more ways than we imagined and promise to uphold our status as being "among six of the best literary festivals" as quoted by Harpers Bazaar.   We thank those sponsors who have remained loyal supporters and more than ever, we need your assistance, the reader, to help us continue our mission in bringing the voices of the world to Indonesia to promote literature, understanding and shared humanity.

From Author Alex Miller - “The UBUD Writers & Readers Festival enjoys a reputation among writers internationally as one of the world’s finest literary events.  But UBUD is more than a festival celebrating the work of the world’s writers, it is also a unique source of skills training for young Indonesians.  Australian support for and participation in the festival is a critical part of our special cultural relations within the South East Asian community of nations.

Cultural forces as imperatives within the lives of individuals – the very stuff of national literatures – form the basis on which understanding between nations is built.  UBUD has established itself as a major site of such rich exchanges on the cultural level between Indonesia and Australia.  UBUD’s contribution to Australian/Indonesian goodwill and understanding is inestimable.  Without fostering high quality sites of cultural exchange of the kind provided by UBUD Australia courts isolation and misunderstanding within the South East Asian community of nations.”  Alex Miller