It makes up 60% of the human body and covers nearly 70% of the earth’s surface. With rising sea levels, increasing temperatures and changing weather patterns, water shapes our world and our politics. How will it shape our future?

Featuring Paul Hardisty, Mehjabeen Abidi-Habib, Panut Hadisiswoyo and Tim Baker.

Shorelines, state lines, party lines and cultural chasms – the forces that divide us can sometimes feel stronger than those that unite us. In a time of mass migration and mass communication, how can and should we think about borders?

Featuring Drew Ambrose, Voranai Vanijaka, Çiler İlhan and Agustinus Wibowo.

It’s easy to say, but harder to do. In 2015, Mpho Tutu told us: “forgiveness is a practice”. Join three authors for an intimate and personal exploration of the legacy of trauma, and the transformative role of forgiveness in society and for the self.

Featuring Rio Helmi, Baz Dreisinger, Shandra Woworuntu and Ariel Leve.

What does home mean? Is it a place? Is it where the heart is? How does home change when we choose to leave a place, versus being forced to leave? And, once you’ve left, can you ever go home again?

Featuring Michael Vatikiotis, Githa Hariharan, Reggie Baay and Dimas Indiana Senja.

English has always been an adaptive lingua franca. As our communications grow ever more global, the English language continues its dynamic evolution. Writers from Indonesia, Singapore, and the USA, take us inside their English.

Featuring Gill Westaway, Cheryl Lu-Lien Thien, Ratih Kumala, Leila S. Chudori and Mitchell S. Jackson.

Home is common ground. We’re born to it, walk upon it, and to be displaced can equal homelessness or statelessness. Join a powerful discussion of body, geography, and connection, with guests from Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Tibet.

Featuring Brusce Pascoe, Tenzin Choegyal, Mehjabeen Abidi-Habib and Warih Wisatsana.

Migration can transform lives and define nations in both anticipated and unexpected ways. How has a migrant identity shaped these writers’ lives both on and off the page? How has writing about their experience helped them to make sense of it?

Featuring Githa Hariharan, Gillian Slovo and Chris Raja.

In a digital age of immediate and intimate connectivity, is our world view really expanding? Is our capacity for empathy and understanding on the rise? Or are we simply stuck inside self-created echo chambers, full of people just like us?

Featuring: Annabel Smith, Deasy Tirayoh, Mayank Austen Soofi and Bri Lee.

A rapid-fire war of words, ideas and party lines: the US election sends voters to the polls a week after the Festival ends. Our writers debate the controversies, calamities, and cock-ups of the campaign, and what things might look like when the dust settles.

Featuring Janet Steele, Mitchell S. Jackson, Baz Dreisinger, Suki Kim and David S. Abraham.

Will we remember 2016 as the year everything changed? What effect will global events such as Brexit, the US election, and increased acts of terrorism have on Southeast Asia? Is there a divide, or are we all in it together? We pause to consider the view from here.

Featuring: Janet Steele, Desi Anwar, Voranai Vanijaka and Amanda Lee Koe.