WELCOME AND THANK YOU!

Last year’s Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) was a memorable one. We were finally able to organize a fully on-the-ground event after conducting a fully online event in 2020 and a hybrid one in 2021.

As always, last year’s event was an amazing celebration filled with intellectual and creative exchanges amongst so many outstanding literary writers, journalists, activists, thinkers, and artists from different parts of the globe. It was so satisfying to be able to connect with each other again in a literary celebration against the beautiful landscape of Ubud, Bali’s cultural capital.

The theme was Uniting Humanity, a very timely topic during a period of so much polarisation, the pandemic, and world conflict. This was a common thread which bound our entire program last year, from our panel discussions and book launches to film screenings and musical performances. Each consistently raised the theme of trying to find a sense of belonging, uniting humanity, and preventing conflict.

This report combines extensive research, including over 500 surveys of attendees and partners. It bears witness to the extraordinary achievements of our loyal and new festival friends, as well as their impact on our businesses and communities beyond our festival.

In presenting this report, I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to our yearround team and volunteers who have made the 2022 Festival possible. There are many reasons to be proud of the results.

To all our partners, supporters, speakers and vendors, thank you for putting forth last year’s festival. A large-scale event like this would not be possible without our collaboration, which synergises our different field of expertise and resources.

I can’t wait to do it all again this year between 18 and 22 October. With our 20th Anniversary Edition this year, I’m sure the event is going to be the most memorable UWRF we’ll have yet.

JANET DENEEFE FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR UBUD WRITERS & READERS FESTIVAL