The Hong Kong International Literary Festival is an international literary festival held annually in Hong Kong. It was founded in 2000 by Nury Vittachi and creative writing teacher Jane Camens, with support from Malaysian poet Shirley Geok-lin Lim. The first festival was held in 2001. [1] The 19th Annual Hong Kong International Literary Festival was held between 1 November and 10 November 2019. In 2023, the Hong Kong International Literary Festival combined with the Young Readers Festival and held a streamlined festival in March, featuring both adult, youth and young reader literature. The 2024 Hong Kong Literary and Young Reader's Festival will take place from 4-10 March 2024.
Previous attendees have included Seamus Heaney, Jung Chang, Louis de Bernières, Junot Díaz, Colm Tóibín, Yann Martell, Margaret Atwood, André Brink, John Banville, Hanif Kureishi, Amitav Ghosh, Ian McEwan, Alexander McCall Smith, Jeffrey Archer, John Boyne, Anne Enright, Benjamin Zephaniah, Carol Ann Duffy, Pankaj Mishra, Irvine Welsh, Cheryl Strayed, Pico Ayer, Amy Tan.
The Hong Kong International Literary Festival is managed by Hong Kong International Literary Festival Ltd, a registered charity in Hong Kong that founded and manages the annual Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival since 2012. [2]
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. With 7.4 million residents of various nationalities in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the world.
John Woo Yu-sen is a Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Editing, as well as a Golden Horse Award, an Asia Pacific Screen Award and a Saturn Award, he is regarded as a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films and the gun fu genre in Hong Kong action cinema. He is known for his highly chaotic "bullet ballet" action sequences, stylized imagery, Mexican standoffs, frequent use of slow motion and allusions to wuxia, film noir and Western cinema.
A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings by authors, as well as other events, delivered over a period of several days, with the primary objectives of promoting the authors' books and fostering a love of literature and writing.
New Zealand literature is literature, both oral and written, produced by the people of New Zealand. It often deals with New Zealand themes, people or places, is written predominantly in New Zealand English, and features Māori culture and the use of the Māori language. Before the arrival and settlement of Europeans in New Zealand in the 19th century, Māori culture had a strong oral tradition. Early European settlers wrote about their experiences travelling and exploring New Zealand. The concept of a "New Zealand literature", as distinct from English literature, did not originate until the 20th century, when authors began exploring themes of landscape, isolation, and the emerging New Zealand national identity. Māori writers became more prominent in the latter half of the 20th century, and Māori language and culture have become an increasingly important part of New Zealand literature.
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Taipei Golden Horse Awards are a film festival and associated awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. The festival and ceremony were founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan and is now run as an independent organisation. The awards ceremony is usually held in November or December in Taipei, although the event has also been held in other locations in Taiwan in recent times.
Johnnie To Kei-fung is a Hong Kong filmmaker. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in the West he is best known for his action and crime movies, which have earned him critical respect and a cult following, which includes American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
The Hong Kong national football team represents Hong Kong in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China, the governing body for football in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong International School (HKIS) is a co-educational private international school in Hong Kong with campuses in Tai Tam and Repulse Bay, serving students from Reception 1 to Grade 12. The Repulse Bay campus houses the Lower and Upper Primary Divisions, while Tai Tam houses the Middle and High School Divisions.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is one of Asia's oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies and filmmakers from different countries, and takes place in Hong Kong.
Adelaide Writers' Week, known locally as Writers' Week or WW, is a large and mostly free literary festival held annually in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It forms part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, where attendees meet, listen, and discuss literature with Australian and international writers in "Meet the Author" sessions, readings and lectures. It is held outdoors in the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden.
The Hong Kong Cultural Centre (香港文化中心) is a public multipurpose performance facility in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Located at Salisbury Road, it was built by the former Urban Council and, since 2000, has been administered by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government. A wide variety of cultural performances are held here.
Sports in Hong Kong are a significant part of its culture. Due to British influence going as far back as the late 19th century, Hong Kong had an earlier introduction to Western athletics compared to other Asia regions.
The Hong Kong Book Fair is a book fair organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, held annually at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, selling and exhibiting books, printed matter, stationery, printing, compact discs and other multimedia publishing.
The Shanghai International Literary Festival is an annual event held each March in China's largest city, Shanghai.
The Asia Literary Review was a quarterly literary journal published in English and distributed internationally. It included articles of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and the photography genre. The journal first published in Hong Kong in 2000 as a small local literary journal called Dim Sum, founded by Nuri Vittachi. Later, Nuri became involved with British businessman and philanthropist Ilyas Khan, who provided encouragement and financial support for the first decade. Khan was a Hong Kong supporter of arts and together they created an international showcase for writers from the Asian region.
The Hong Kong Pride Parade is an annual march in Hong Kong in support of LGBT rights. Homosexuality has been legal in Hong Kong since 1991 but there is no legal recognition of any same-sex relationships and limited protection against discrimination.
Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) is a free, non-profit news website based in Hong Kong. It was co-founded in 2015 by Tom Grundy, who believed that the territory's press freedom was in decline, to provide an independent alternative to the dominant English-language newspaper of record in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post.
The Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is an annual international film festival focused on LGBTQIA+ cinema, held each September in Hong Kong. Founded in 1989 by Edward Lam (林奕華), a Hong Kong film director and gay activist, it is considered to be the oldest LGBT film festival in Asia.
Book fairs and literary festivals are held throughout South Africa each year to promote literacy among children and adults. A country's literacy rate is often a key social indicator of development. In 2005, UNESCO Institute for Statistics reported a literacy rate of 94.37% among the population aged 15 years and older. The literacy rate among the male population in this age group was 95.4% and 93.41 for female counterparts. According to Statistics South Africa, functional illiteracy among those aged 20 years or older, was recorded at 15.4% in 2005. This has improved from 2002's 27.3%. Women are more likely to be functionally illiterate across all age groups, apart from those aged between 20 and 39 years old.
Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF) was established by Lindsey McAlister OBE, in 1993. It serves people in Hong Kong aged 5 to 25 years. It is one of the largest youth art organisations in the world.