Hong Kong International Literary Festival
Encyclopedia
The Hong Kong International Literary Festival is an international literary festival
held annually in Hong Kong
. In recent years the title sponsor of the festival has been Man Investments, a division of Man Group
, title sponsor of the Man Booker Prize
. During this time the profile of the festival has increased substantially, with attendances by Man Booker Prize winners and other internationally acclaimed and well-known writers.
The festival was founded in 2000 by Asian author Nury Vittachi
and creative writing teacher Jane Camens, with support from Malaysian poet Shirley Geok-lin Lim
. This year the festival will have speakers such as Kiran Desai
, Gore Vidal
, and Elie Chau.
Literary festival
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...
held annually in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. In recent years the title sponsor of the festival has been Man Investments, a division of Man Group
Man Group
Man Group plc is a British alternative investment management business. It provides a range of funds for institutional and private investors globally. The company manages about US$68 billion and employs around 1,700 people in 15 locations worldwide.Man’s headquarters are at Riverbank House...
, title sponsor of the Man Booker Prize
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
. During this time the profile of the festival has increased substantially, with attendances by Man Booker Prize winners and other internationally acclaimed and well-known writers.
The festival was founded in 2000 by Asian author Nury Vittachi
Nury Vittachi
Nury Vittachi is a journalist and author based in Hong Kong. His columns are published daily, weekly in a variety of newspapers in Asia as well as on his website. He is best known for the comedy-crime novel series The Feng Shui Detective, published in many languages around the world, but he has...
and creative writing teacher Jane Camens, with support from Malaysian poet Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Shirley Geok-lin Lim was born in Malacca Malaysia. She is an American writer of poetry, fiction, and criticism. Her first collection of poems, Crossing The Peninsula, published in 1980, won her the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, a first both for an Asian and for a woman...
. This year the festival will have speakers such as Kiran Desai
Kiran Desai
Kiran Desai is an Indian author who is a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States. Her novel The Inheritance of Loss won the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award...
, Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, and Elie Chau.