Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) merupakan seorang esais, dosen, dan moralis, yang lahir di Concord, Massachusetts. Karyanya yang paling dikenal adalah Walden (1854), yang tumbuh dari jurnal kesendiriannya di sebuah pondok di tepi danau Walden, dekat Concord. Dalam tujuh nukilan berikut, yang diambil dari karyanya, Walden, Thoreau menjelaskan kenapa dirinya mengasingkan diri untuk hidup sendiri. Tujuh nukilan ini diterjemahkan secara bebas dari buku "Readings for Writers" edisi keenam yang disusun oleh Anthony C. Winkler dan J.R. Mc Cueen.

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Aku pergi ke hutan karena aku berharap untuk hidup dengan penuh kehati-hatian, untuk menghadapi hanya sifat-sifat dasar kenyataan hidup dan melihat bahwasanya aku tidak bisa belajar dari apa yang semestinya diajarkan, dan setidaknya, ketika nantinya aku mati, akan sadar bahwasanya aku belumlah hidup. Aku tidak berharap untuk hidup yang semestinya bukanlah sebenar-benar hidup, hidup cukuplah berharga; maupun tidaklah aku berharap untuk belajar berserah diri, sampai hal itu memang benar diperlukan. Aku ingin menjalani hidup yang mendalam sambil mengisap habis sumsum kehidupan, untuk hidup yang begitu kokoh, dan Spartan, sepertihalnya menggali semua yang tidak sebenar-benarnya hidup, untuk membuat lubang cangkulan yang dalam dan keluar dari dalamnya, untuk mendorong hidup sampai ke sebuah sudut sepi, dan menurunkannya pada masa terendah, dan jika memang terbukti buruk , kenapa kemudian mesti memahami keseluruhan keburukan dan kesejatian dari hidup itu, dan menyampaikannya ke dunia; atau jika hidup memanglah luhur, untuk mengetahui sendiri dengan mengalami hidup itu sendiri, dan dapat sebisa mungkin memberi nilai sebenarnya dari hidup pada masa ekskursiku yang akan datang, terlepas apakah dari iblis atau dari Tuhan, dan dapat sedikit dengan tergesa menyimpulkan bahwa akhir tujuan dari manusia adalah untuk “memuja Tuhan dan menikmati-Nya selamanya.”

Friends,Do you know him?If you're not familiar with him and are interested, please click on his name below. A link to his short-biography in Wikipedia is available there.He is one of the greatest Indonesian writer.  Probably,it will change your thought,his Tetra-logy: “The Earth of Mankind”, “Child of All Nations”, “Footsteps” and “House of Glass” have been translated into many languages.

In this Tetra-logy is also brings a contribution to human culture as whole, in his fiction he examined many of the great dilemmas of the last century. In art he recreated oppressed and despised human beings awakening—in contradictory, uneven, and, at times, even atypical ways—to conscious struggle against the social forces that weighed upon them, in particular, imperialism before the Second World War. Pram wrote history of Indonesia with his own way.

 “We all have to accept reality, yes, that’s true. But just to accept reality and do nothing else, that is the attitude of human beings who have lost the ability to develop and grow, because human beings also have the ability to create new realities. And if there are no longer people who want to create new realities, then perhaps the word “progress” should be removed altogether from humankind’s vocabulary.” -Pramoedya Ananta Toer

 Image : http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5509ea6a188340168eaf41651970c-pi

Personal Blog-When it comes to personal blogging, documentary is the default genre. There are plenty of blogs that serve other functions, but many blogs are primarily catalogues of the life experiences of their author. Although there are quite a few blogs that focus on collecting poetry and other forms of creative writing, the vast majority of personal blogs are in some sense documentaries.

For many years, the act of making a documentary was meant to be an objective act of reporting the sights and sounds that the filmmaker, writer, or photographer encountered.However,in contemporary times there has been a movement towards embracing the subjectivity inherent in the documentary form. This means that modern documentaries often reflect the distinctive voice and sensibility of their creator, and the fact that todays documentaries often revolve around personality
blurs the lines between documentary and memoir.Blogs rest somewhere between these two genres, muddying the distinctions even further. Personal blogging,documentary, and memoir are now irrevocably intertwined, for better or for worse.

Although few bloggers think of themselves as making documentaries in any formal sense, every time
somebody sits down in front of a computer and types up a record of their day, they are documenting their own historical moment. The things that we take for granted about our daily lives, like the way that we use specific modes of transportation, or the kinds of products that we buy, often seem quite fascinating to people who live in circumstances different from ours, and it is this kind of fascination that is at the heart of many documentary projects. When people think about blogging,documentary is not very likely to be the first adjective that crosses their minds, but a few decades down the road it is very likely that todays blogs will be seen primarily as very subjective documentaries of our era.The people of tomorrow will almost certainly look tothe blogs of today for insight into our historical moment.

When it comes to blogging, documentary may not be the aim of most people who spend their time posting their thoughts and ideas on the internet. In some ways,the documentary aspect of blogging is more of a side,effect than a primary goal. However, the fact that so many people are interested in publishing these public online diaries shows that personal blogs are about more than just rumination. The fact that bloggers are so stimulated by and interested in sharing their ideas with each other reinforces the idea that personal blogs are, in some ways, documentaries meant for public consumption. Documentaries appeal to people who are curious about other ways of life, and many people who regularly read others personal blogs are looking for this same kind of new perspective.

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is Southeast Asia’s most renowned literary event.It is the major annual project of the not-for-profit foundation, the Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati. It was first conceived of by Janet DeNeefe, co-founder of the Foundation, as a healing project in response to the first Bali bombing.Leading writers, thinkers, artists and performers from across Indonesia and all corners of the globe will come together over five full days of events to celebrate knowledge and the arts, education, wisdom and science.

In 2013 marked a mammoth year for the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, with Southeast Asia’s most renowned literary event celebrating its 10 year anniversary from 11 – 15 October in Ubud, Bali.
In 2013, the Festival came full circle, returning to its original theme Through Darkness to Light/ Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang honouring RA Kartini, Indonesia’s beloved women’s rights pioneer. Beyond paying homage to Kartini, the 2013 program focused on women’s stories, women’s rights and education, heroes and visionaries. Writers across all genres were embraced, including travel writers, songwriters, playwrights, poets, comedians and graphic novelists.

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival mission is simple and yet complex: to create a world class literary event which encourages a free and unfettered dialogue that transcends race, creed and gender to celebrate the universal appeal of story and open a window to the treasury of words and ideas. By so doing, we facilitate the sharing of stories and throw light upon the means by which they might be told. We are proud of our continuing success in bringing Indonesian and international writers together on a world stage and expanding readership of contemporary literature across genres, across cultural divides.

After a wonderful 10-year anniversary celebration, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival sets its sights on 2014 and looks forward to the 11^th Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, October 1–5, 2014.
Held annually in Ubud, Bali’s artistic and cultural heartland, the UWRF has become South East Asia’s largest and most renowned cultural and literary festival.
In 2014 the UWRF will honor Saraswati, the Hindu patron goddess of learning, with the theme ‘Wisdom & Knowledge’.
That's Writers & Readers Festival.For more information please contact: http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/