Ferry Plaza Book Launch: Wandering in Bali

The word Bali conjures images of lush tropical beaches and coastlines, mysterious temples, gracious people, their transporting music and rice fields of impossible green.

A journey to Bali is the trip of a lifetime and so it’s no surprise that this new collection of tales about the storied isle features a Foreword from Lonely Planet Founder, Tony Wheeler.

But this paradisiacal Indonesian island isn’t all goddesses and frangipani. In addition to the beauty, this group of writers also found the humor—and the terror—of the place. Computer crashes, marauding monkeys, international paranoia, flesh-eating fish and even a few zombies also found their way into the stories collected here.

Popular workshop leaders and travel writers Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Joanna Biggar have floated down the Canal du Midi in France, danced in the sunlight of southern Greece, toasted the best of times in Ireland, devoured the culture and countryside of southern Italy, wandered through landscapes lost and found in Costa Rica with their merry band of travel writers … and now they land in faraway Indonesia to explore an island that is known as an earthly Paradise. The writers return with a varied collection of tales, some mystical, some funny, some terrifying—each in a different, highly personal voice. From temples to Balinese feasts to classical music and dance, the writers here sample and share the multiple faces of Bali.

For centuries, Bali has drawn souls from east and west to its natural beauty, mystical spirituality, and captivating arts. This collection of stories, poems, and photographs offers multiple windows from which to view this engaging place, all presented with rhythms and moods as melodic as the sound of the gamelan.
—Larry Habegger, Executive Editor, Travelers’ Tales Books

For more information, to schedule and event, or to set up an interview with the editors or contributors, please contact Jack at leftcoastwriters@aol.com.