Walking the book talk|Culture HK|chinadaily.com.cn

There are a number of firsts about Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2019 – author-guided walks, sessions in Cantonese and workshops for writers with disabilities being a few of these. Melanie Hoare reports.

The 19th edition of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF) begins today. The 10-day event explores a number of themes including identity, migration and dystopia. The program of activities is just as wide-ranging and includes readings, panels, workshops and performances. Under the leadership of new festival director, Fiona Chung, the festival has doubled in size this year and features close to 80 events in an effort to appeal to different audiences.

“We’re focused on a few different themes,” Chung says. “This year we have (events) on themes of dystopia; a number of performances; events on memoir, history, spoken word, politics we’re trying to expand the program and be more creative. We want to include as many people from different genres (as possible) so that our audiences can find something for anyone.”

The festival’s headliners include Pico Iyer, who will discuss sanity and balance at the festival’s gala dinner. Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, will discuss writing and his new book, Bridge of Clay. Also featured are Jennifer 8. Lee, the best-selling author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles and Booker Prize longlisted author, John Lanchester. The festival also includes a look into nature with hunter Miriam Lancewood; an exploration of the graphic-novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Renee Nault; and concerts, including one with artist Matt Ottley and Hong Kong opera singers Joyce Wong and Kenix Tsang. A panel on dystopian writing features Chinese speculative fiction writer Chen Qiufan while prolific translator of Chinese literature Nicky Harman will speak on the theme of translating cultures.

Street smart

The inclusive program extends to workshops, including one for writers with disabilities. For the first time the festival features walking tours, including a Hong Kong history tour by Philip Cracknell and another by Lindsay Varty whose book, Sunset Survivors, was published in September by local press Blacksmith Books.

Varty grew up in this city and was encouraged by her parents to experience the Hong Kong of their childhoods. As an adult, noticing how many traditional industries were disappearing, she decided to tell the stories of the people working in these industries through a series of photographs and interviews.

“I wanted to document them and their stories before it was too late,” Varty says. “They really represent true Hong Kong and Hong Kong identity and what makes Hong Kong so special.”

The book includes interviews with a Shanghainese barber, a birdcage maker, a letter writer, a mahjong tile maker and a shoe shiner. Varty has started offering walking tours that complement the experience of leafing through her book and she is hosting two of these under the banner of HKILF 2019.

“I’ll be taking people to visit these sunset survivors in action and see their shops and stalls as a way to meet and talk to them and learn about their personal stories,” Varty says.

She is now working on a children’s version of Sunset Survivors. The book is geared at making the material more accessible to small children, so that they may learn more about traditional trades as a way to experience old Hong Kong.

At HKILF 2019, Varty appears on two panels. She explains that the use of the word “survivor” in the title of her book was intentional. “I wanted to portray these men and women, who (in spite) of all of these changes – cultural, beliefs, technology – that have come in, have kept traditional Hong Kong alive.”

Up, close and personal

Other Hong Kong authors featured in HKILF 2019 include Kit Fan, who was born in the city and moved to Britain at the age of 21. The writer’s second poetry collection, As Slow as Possible, has received a number of accolades, including being recommended by the Poetry Book Society.

Poet Jennifer Wong is another featured talent. The UK-based writer’s new pamphlet, Diary of a Miu Miu Salesgirl, was published in September and includes 10 poems that touch upon her family and personal history, including that of growing up in Hong Kong.

“I seldom write about the very personal side of my family story, but I have poems about my mother and my father, and include glimpses into how it used to be when they were young,” Wong says. “The poems I think make up a good narrative about growing up in a changing city and making a home (in England) away from my own home. It will be good to see what Hong Kong people think about these poems and whether they recognize them as part of their own experiences.”

Wong’s pamphlet also talks about the different sides of being a mother and a woman. In her talks she’ll be discussing matters relating to family, culture, stories and identities. “I think one of the interesting topics will be to discuss how we translate different cultures and histories in our work,” Wong adds.

As part of the festival’s schools program, Wong will also be working with primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong and Shenzhen to develop their creative writing skills. “There’s value in all of our unique personal stories and I think it’s quite important to give a voice to people who have different backgrounds,” she says. “There are many children and young people who might need encouragement to see that artistic expression and creative writing belong to them.”

Local speak

While previous editions of the festival have been exclusively in English, this year the organizers are trialing a select number of events in Cantonese. The four sessions with Cantonese-speaking authors are intended to add diversity to the program and reach out to Cantonese-speaking audiences. It’s also a way of testing how the program might be expanded in future years.

“We’ll see how well people receive the sessions,” Chung says of the Cantonese-language events. “If (they’re) popular, we’ll explore having some translated sessions. I think we should look into it because I think with translators you can reach out to more people and we hope to do so.”

But no matter the theme, genre or language of the festival, Chung says that many of the events have one thing in common: “We’re trying to get down to the basics of life, and that’s something that’s relevant to every event.”

(HK Edition 11/01/2019 page10)