Congratulations to Will Yeoman as guest curator of the 2018 Perth Writers Week.

My head is still spinning from all the great writers I heard. And isn’t that what a good festival does?   It inspires us; it educates us and it entertains us. It also provides time for new or different ideas to be presented.

One of the highlights for me was listening to Kim Scott (Taboo) and Helen Garner (Everywhere I look) in conversation.  These are two of Australia’s literary giants.  It was an interesting pairing – but what a rich evening they provided for the sold out crowd at the Octagon Theatre in Perth.   It was also obvious how much they respected and admired each other’s work.

Tim Winton’s solo performance about his new book The shepherd’s hut and his powerful interwoven messages that society has failed young boys because they have ­remained trapped in an idea of manhood that is toxic, was fascinating and quite disturbing. I thought about the implications as I made my way home.

I came away inspired from a session with Liz Byrski, Rob Dessaix and Alex Miller, who discussed creativity in later years. They reaffirmed to me that I have a bright future ahead and gave me permission to become more selfish with my own time, say no and even be a little bit rude!

I was lucky enough to interview three women from the Arab world: Manal Al-Sharif, Amal Awad and Tess Woods. With Palestinian, Egyptian and Saudi Arabian heritages the conversation showed the audience life from three different countries and cultures. It was an informative, amusing and sometimes poignant conversation. I recommend all three books – Daring to Drive, Beyond the veiled clichés and Beautiful Messy love.  All would be great book club reads.  I’ll have a review of Daring to Drive up soon, as I spent another hour with Manal in a different session discussing her life and activism in more depth.

So hats off to all in the Perth Writers Week program. Reading ideas abound!

 

 

 

What a joy it was to meet and interview three outstanding Iranian writers Sholeh Wolpe, Sanaz Foutouhi and Shokoofeh Azar at the 2017 Ubud Readers and Writers Festival last week.

Our discussion ranged over the rich history of Persian literature, the influence of heritage and why we should all read more works from around the world in translation. These writers are creating a new chapter in diasporic literature.

Sanaz has written a book about meaning and identity since the Islamic Revolution. The Literature of the Iranian Diaspora is a must read for anyone who wants to begin to understand writing from Iran. Sanaz is also the Director of Asia Pacific Writers and Translators and works tirelessly to promote voices from different regions.

Sholeh lights up any room when she reads her beautiful poetry or other work. She is also an award winning playwright and translator. Her translation of Attar’s The conference of the Birds is a book I return to again and again. Attar was considered by Rumi to be the master of Sufi mystic poetry.

And, of course, Shokoofeh Azar is a writer I know well. I have already reviewed her first book in English called The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree. It is an enthralling novel that combines magical realism alongside Iranian politics.

The writers discussed the challenges of working across cultures and how to encourage more people to read literature from Iran.   Perhaps, the most poignant moment came when I asked each of the writers about home. Shokoofeh cannot return to Iran.   She was jailed as a journalist and had to flee for her life. Sholeh feels she may never be able to return to Iran because of what she has written since moving to the United States.   Sanaz, however, returns frequently to Iran from Australia. I felt the great sense of loss from Shokoofeh and Sholeh in missing that connection to their homeland.

In Sholeh’s words:

Home is like a missing tooth.

The tongue reaches

For hardness

But falls

Into absence.

Ubud Readers and Writers Festival Founder and Director Janet De Neefe knows the power and beauty of Mount Agung. From the terrace of her famed restaurant, Indus, she has watched Gunung Agung for nineteen years. ‘We respect whatever choice she makes, but we also hope it’s compassionate’, says Janet.

The mountain, which is the highest point in Bali, is a very sacred place. In every Balinese temple a shrine is dedicated to its spirit.

Because of a possible eruption from Mount Agung, an estimated 140,000 people in surrounding areas have been evacuated and moved into makeshift shelters and formerly bustling travel hotspots have been left virtually empty. Festival organisers have looked at all options through their crisis planning and have decided to proceed.

We are doing everything possible to help the displaced villagers,” Janet said this week in an interview with the Guardian newspaper. ‘Ubud won’t be directly affected by the volcano and none of the writers has panicked or threatened to pull out. The Balinese are kind of chilled, like, “Ehh – this could take months”,’ she says. ‘But there’s lots of frantic expats out there.’ The Guardian newspaper has a more in depth look at the current situation.

I love this festival and have been attending as a moderator and interviewer for over a decade. This year I am very pleased to be interviewing Jung Chang the author of Wild Swans, Empress Dowager Cixi, Mao: The Unknown Story.

I am also moderating a wonderful panel of Iranian women writers. Sanaz Fotouhi is Director of Asia Pacific Writers & Translators Conference, a writer and filmmaker. Sholeh Wolpé is an award-winning Iranian-born poet, playwright and literary translator and my friend Shokoofeh Azar, is a rising star of Iranian literature, whose first novel has just been published in English. On our panel, we’ll be discussing the magic of diasporic Iranian literature. The writers will contemplate the influence of their ancient Persian heritage and share insights gleaned from working and writing across cultures. I can’t wait to talk to this wonderful group of writers.

The Ubud Readers and Writers Festival was born from tragedy. In 2002, after the Bali bombings, Janet founded the festival to encourage visitors back to the region. It is now regarded as one of the best writers’ festivals in the world, highlighting and promoting Indonesian authors and attracting some of the biggest names in the international literary scene. I always tell people this is the one festival you MUST see sometime.

We are all hoping a rumbling volcano won’t discourage people from attending the 2017 Ubud Readers and Writers Festival.