For the Asean region, which has eagerly picked up on the use of social media, the festival aims to attract a young audience with discussions focused on story telling in the digital age, said Mr. Indra, who noted that people can now publish a book out of a series of tweets sent out on Twitter.
SGT Mar 16, 2015 | By Anita Rachman
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Has social media and the digital world changed the way Southeast Asian writers think and write?
It’s a question at the heart of this year’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations Literary Festival, which brings together writers, artists, academics and publishers from eight Asean member countries and beyond.
“Together, we will discuss how the digital era has affected Indonesian and other writers in the region,” said festival spokesman Rai Rahman Indra.
“Do they still write about humanity and justice issues, or have such topics been replaced by pop [culture]?” he asked.
The festival opened Sunday in Jakarta under the theme “Questions of Conscience” and runs until March 22. It will also include speakers from China, South Korea, Australia, the U.S. and India.
For the Asean region, which has eagerly picked up on the use of social media, the festival aims to attract a young audience with discussions focused on story telling in the digital age, said Mr. Indra, who noted that people can now publish a book out of a series of tweets sent out on Twitter.
The festival will include 19 free discussions on themes such as the digital era and how the digital generation tells its stories. Other panels will examine the different book industries across the Asean region or the alternatives indie publishers offer. There will also be workshops given by writers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam and Japan.
Festival director Abdul Khalik, said its aim was also to raise awareness among young people about how literature and literacy can make youth think about and analyze social problems.
Discussions will touch on important social issues such as women and literature, literature and the fight for equality and justice and literary works and government, he said.
Literary tours to several libraries in Jakarta and film screenings will round out the line-up.
Last year, the festival was held for three days and attracted around 1,500 participants.
Mr. Khalik said this year the festival expects to attract more participants since it will last the entire week. So far, he said, dozens of participants have already registered for each discussion session.
For the complete schedule check here.
