The 2012 Ubud Readers & Writers Festival theme is This Earth of Mankind: Bumi Manusia , from the title of a work by one of Indonesia’s greatest contemporary writers Pramoedya Ananta Toer. This Earth of Mankind is the first book in Pramoedya’s historical fiction series called The Buru Quartet, first published in 1980. The story is set at the end of the Dutch colonial rule and was written while Pramoedya was a political prisoner on the island prison of Buru in eastern Indonesia.

This Earth of Mankind is an unflinching portrayal of the suffering caused by colonialism and of trampled human dignity. It is also the story of a valiant struggle for freedom and is considered one of the most compelling political novels of the twentieth century. In 2012, this profound theme that touches on humanity in all its complexities and the universal power of story telling will be at the heart of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival.