2019
Festival Highlights
28 October 2019
Am taking off a bit of time in the middle of the last day, before an afternoon of two book launches. Definitely a slower pace as we near the finishing line. This is not a horse race after all! Yesterday late afternoon I took a little nap that turned into a two-hour deep sleep - lost everyone and missed dinner again. But at least I could go to a late night event!
Yesterday was another astounding day - a roller coaster taking me zooming from the emotional (refugee writer, Behrooz Boochani on screen from his PNG “prison”), to the nostalgic, (Tony Wheeler of Lonely Planet), to the intellectual/ philosophical (Reza Azlan answering the question “What is God?”), to the literary - (“Rewriting the Classics”,) to the social (Diana Darling - our regular catch up over G and Ts, this time on my verandah), and ending with the hilarious and heartbreaking (three LGBT writers telling their stories on stage in a small late night bar).
Behrooz, whose translator was present, is now “free” in Port Moresby, but he and the other 250 refugees are “imprisoned” in their rooms and cannot go out, for their own safety. (50 more are in PNG jails as they are not designated refugees, but many of them have been diagnosed as severely ill and in need of evacuation to Australian hospitals, but while the revocation of medical evacuation legislation is being debated their treatment is on hold. We Aussies present cringed and wept. Behrooz has been accepted for America - and maybe will go in six months. He spoke of his writing - the language of the journalist he once was is no longer acceptable to him, so he is writing literature that speaks more truly. Call a “detention centre” a “prison”! He got a long-standing ovation at the end. We did not want to let him go. His gaunt face is haunting me.
Yesterday was another astounding day - a roller coaster taking me zooming from the emotional (refugee writer, Behrooz Boochani on screen from his PNG “prison”), to the nostalgic, (Tony Wheeler of Lonely Planet), to the intellectual/ philosophical (Reza Azlan answering the question “What is God?”), to the literary - (“Rewriting the Classics”,) to the social (Diana Darling - our regular catch up over G and Ts, this time on my verandah), and ending with the hilarious and heartbreaking (three LGBT writers telling their stories on stage in a small late night bar).
Behrooz, whose translator was present, is now “free” in Port Moresby, but he and the other 250 refugees are “imprisoned” in their rooms and cannot go out, for their own safety. (50 more are in PNG jails as they are not designated refugees, but many of them have been diagnosed as severely ill and in need of evacuation to Australian hospitals, but while the revocation of medical evacuation legislation is being debated their treatment is on hold. We Aussies present cringed and wept. Behrooz has been accepted for America - and maybe will go in six months. He spoke of his writing - the language of the journalist he once was is no longer acceptable to him, so he is writing literature that speaks more truly. Call a “detention centre” a “prison”! He got a long-standing ovation at the end. We did not want to let him go. His gaunt face is haunting me.
Reza Aslan decided to show us, in an hour-long intellectual monologue, how man created the notion of a soul/ spirits /gods and eventually one god, by a combination of archaeological evidence (cave paintings, grave goods) and historical texts, in a whirlwind of an argument that left us gasping for breath. But the question remains, why in the hell is he still a religious Muslim and his wife a strong Christian, when he knows all this? Fun to listen to him and not a droopy eye in the house, despite the stifling heat.
A session on “Rewriting the Classics”- a Canadian Muslim girl of Indian origin has retold Pride and Prejudice in the context of a small enclosed Muslim community in Toronto which has a lot of similarities to Regency England it turns out, in terms of cultural mores! She described situations of excruciating discomfort when the girl is being introduced to a potential suitor over tea with her family. There is a Mr Collins suitor too but the author claims she treats him more kindly than Jane Austen did! It has been translated into Indonesian! I will read it, (in English) when I get home. It’s called Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin. The other retelling of a classic is by an Australian Indonesian/Chinese woman I’ve got to know at festivals over the years, Mirandi Tjia (pen name Mirandi Riwoe). She has rewritten a Somerset Maugham story The Four Dutchman from the point of view of the Malay girl the captain takes on board his ship. The Fisher Girl. She felt this girl needed to be given a voice of her own to counteract the horrible dehumanising misogyny of Maugham’s writing.
This was a delightful panel - Australian novelist, Toni Jordan was the moderator.
This was a delightful panel - Australian novelist, Toni Jordan was the moderator.
Just loved going on an anecdotal ride across the world with Tony Wheeler again - he’s been everywhere, man! His latest book On Travel is full of quotes. His favourite is “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” Just think how many millions of travellers Lonely Planet has encouraged to take that fork! Including me. Talking of millions, he and Maureen are investing much of the profits from the sale of LP ten years ago into educational and heath projects in Asia and Africa.
The late night session featured an Indonesian transsexual Jane, who is a personal friend from her Jakarta days of my friend, also Jane, here attending the festival. The story Jane told in flamboyant, hilarious style was actually a deep plea for acceptance, understanding and love. This country right now is no place to be different, especially dangerous for LGBTs, yet Jane and her fellow storytellers on stage made no reference to this.
The late night session featured an Indonesian transsexual Jane, who is a personal friend from her Jakarta days of my friend, also Jane, here attending the festival. The story Jane told in flamboyant, hilarious style was actually a deep plea for acceptance, understanding and love. This country right now is no place to be different, especially dangerous for LGBTs, yet Jane and her fellow storytellers on stage made no reference to this.
Highlight of yesterday was Richard Fidler, beloved of all ABC radio listeners in Australia. So personable in the flesh and truly grateful to have the interviewer and audience actually understand and appreciate his decision to put so much of himself into his two history books (about Constantinople and Iceland).
Next day:
The carnival is over and I can move at a slower pace - or not at all - in coming days. For me the last activities were two book launches, one a novel, Colour of Things Unseen by a woman I know, Annee Lawrence, about an Indonesian art student in Sydney - I bought that one. (Very nice nibbles - and sangria!) And the other, at the very end of the day was the little informal launch of the emerging writers anthology that we have each year. Only one of my two writers was in attendance, but it was a delight to meet him. I had not been able to tell from the pen name that the sweet sad story, “Flower Girl” of his that I had translated had in fact been written by a giant of a lad.
The carnival is over and I can move at a slower pace - or not at all - in coming days. For me the last activities were two book launches, one a novel, Colour of Things Unseen by a woman I know, Annee Lawrence, about an Indonesian art student in Sydney - I bought that one. (Very nice nibbles - and sangria!) And the other, at the very end of the day was the little informal launch of the emerging writers anthology that we have each year. Only one of my two writers was in attendance, but it was a delight to meet him. I had not been able to tell from the pen name that the sweet sad story, “Flower Girl” of his that I had translated had in fact been written by a giant of a lad.
Then, now becoming a regular tradition, Jeffrey and Anna arranged for our little group of festival goers to get together on the last night at Ruma Roda’s Sunday night buffet - great way to debrief and share festival experiences (all different, with the competing sessions) over a delicious Balinese home-style meal. Today we go our separate ways, though Pam B and I, along with Jeffrey and Anna have the next two days at Umajati Retreat, the perfect place to recover from and process these past four days of constant input.
Till next year, UWRF. I’ll be back, but please, Ubud, put in some handrails!