Banyuwangi to Host Indonesia Writers Festival

Pedagang melayani pembeli di pasar jajanan tradisional di Desa Wisiata Kemiren, Banyuwangi, Jawa Timur, Minggu (4/2). Pasar yang menjual makanan tradisional suku Osing yang diadakan setiap hari minggu itu, pembeli harus menggunakan kepeng atau kepingan uang kuno untuk bertransaksi. Antara jatim/Budi Candra Setya/zk/18.

We want the millennial generation that joins the writing community to improve the quality of their writing

Banyuwangi, E Java (Antaranews Jatim) - Banyuwangi District, East Java Province, will host the Indonesia Writers Festival on September 21-22, 2018.

The festival will feature various programs, such as writing clinics and on-spot writing competitions, through an application on smartphones, Uni Lubis, founder of the Indonesia Writers Festival (IWF), stated here on Monday.

The event, themed "Empowering Indonesia Trough Writing," will be held at the Jiwa Jawa Resort located at the foot of Mount Ijen.

Lubis remarked that the festival aims to empower and promote the values of Indonesia through writing.

"We want the millennial generation that joins the writing community to improve the quality of their writing. We hope they would be more sensitive in capturing interesting aspects around them that are close to millennial life," she noted.

Hundreds of writers from various cities in Indonesia will participate in the IWF. They will report positive news in Indonesia, starting from Banyuwangi, through their writing.

"We choose Ijen in the hopes that it can encourage the participants to write on various themes, such as traveling, tourism, culture, and sports. We hope that participants would demonstrate top-quality writing while conveying their stories to the public," she noted.

Speakers at the festival comprised senior journalist and Channel Narration founder Najwa Shihab, senior journalist Uni Lubis, novelist Fira Basuki, and Banyuwangi Regent Abdullah Azwar Anas.

"We also urge the writers to pen down their thoughts on speakers hailing from various backgrounds. This will enrich their writing," Lubis noted.

The Indonesia Writers Festival in Ijen, Banyuwangi will also hold on-the-spot writing competition through a mobile application. On that day, she said, a mobile-only writing app will be launched, which will be the world's first writing application.

"This event will simultaneously become the first writing competition with mobile application in Indonesia, maybe even in the world, as it has never been held before," she noted.

The festival is not only dedicated to the writer's community in big cities but also all people.

"We also provide an opportunity to Banyuwangi's people, who have passion for writing, to participate in this event. Please register and join us," she noted.

Meanwhile, Regent Abdullah Azwar Anas welcomed the organizing of the Indonesia Writers Festival, as it could promote the local potential.

Anas expressed hope that young people in Banyuwangi, with interest in writing, would take part in the event. He expressed hope that they would turn out to be good writers, with potential in their respective areas.

"Later, they can write about their own villages. There will be several great writers coming to Banyuwangi. Do not miss this event," he added.(*)