March is famously known as Art Month in Hong Kong, with a wide array of art exhibitions and fairs, but for us, one of the highlights of this month also lies in the Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF), which gathers emerging and established writers, as well as literature lovers everywhere, for a week of everything bookish.
There will be 68 events in total, including fireside chats, literary lunches with authors, workshops, and family events. Some highlights of this year’s HKILF include Alka Joshi’s marquee event on her acclaimed Jaipur trilogy; a talk with Bernadine Evaristo, the Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other; a session with Asako Yuzuki on her thrilling novel Butter; and a writing workshop by Hong Kong author Sonia Leung.
Writer and comedian Jennifer Wong will join Ho Lee Fook’s executive chef ArChan Chan in a discussion on food, culture, and their respective works Chopsticks or Fork? and The Cantonese Cookbook. Meanwhile, Michelle Bang will present her debut book Sun & Ssukgat – The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness & Longevity, which draws on ancient Korean wellness traditions.
As part of the HKILF, the Young Readers Festival Schools Programme will also be held before the main festival, running across two weeks for the first time. This gives kids the chance to meet some of the finest local and international children’s and young adult authors in person.
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