Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) 2026

Southeast Asia’s biggest literary event, Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF), returns this 21 to 26 October with a powerful programme of over a hundred separate events. For its 23rd year, authors, thinkers, journalists, poets and more will descend upon Ubud for a week of insight and intrigue. 

The theme this year is ‘Samarasā: Awareness. Empathy. Action.’, which will guide UWRF’s main programme’s many curated conversations and panels. 150 of the region’s most current, exciting writers will discuss the transformative power of storytelling and its ability to mobilise and enlighten individuals, communities and humanity.

As always, the UWRF festival carefully selects its Main Programme speakers, whose works, knowledge and life experiences add poignance, depth and reality into each year’s discussions. A highly-anticipated speaker is Tari Lang, author of the memoir ‘My Neighbour, The Dictator,’ in which she recounts her life as a fourteen-year-old girl in 1965 when General Suharto’s coup saw her parents imprisoned without trial, and how this history continues to shape who she is.

Other controversial topics will be explored in panels like ‘Defying Silence Together,’ featuring investigative journalist and documentarian, Dandhy Laksono (Pig Feast, 2026; Dirty Vote, 2024) alongside activist and novelist, Randa Abdel-Fattah (Does My Head Look Big in This?, 2005), disinvited by Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026 for her views.

Discussions surrounding the world’s increasing censorship are explored further in ‘Forbidden Stories: Banned Media and Magazines’ with human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis; as well as ‘Burning Books, Accepting Artifice: Man or Machine’, with Brian Lang and Dee Lestari.

A roster of fascinating, stimulating conversations will take place throughout the festival period, with international and Indonesian authors taking the stage. These include 2006 Man Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai (The Inheritance of Loss, 2006), renowned Balinese writer Oka Rusmini (Earth Dance, 2000), bestselling British author Rachel Clarke (The Story of a Heart, 2024), and many, many more.

Hard-hitting conversations are only one side of the festival. Poetry slams, literary luncheons, independent book launches, film screenings and cultural performances add life, vibrancy and variety to this year’s meaningful programme. 

The full lineup and rundown of events are available on the festival’s website. Festival-goers can choose between 4-Day Festival Passes and 1-Day Festival Passes, with Special Event passes also available for purchase. Discounts are available for students, KITAS / KITAP holders and ASEAN country citizens.

For more information, follow @ubudwritersfest or visit ubudwritersfestival.com.