hktdc.com - Literary City

4 July 2012

Literary City


	The HKTDC Hong Kong Book Fair is testament to literature’s draw in the city

As the Hong Kong Book Fair gets underway in two weeks’ time, a group of students will be honing their craft as part of City University of Hong Kong’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing programme.

Established in 2010, the programme this year includes an intense, week-long session at the Kowloon Tong campus, followed by additional residencies scheduled over the next two years.

The Asian Connection


Hong Kong-based novelist Xu Xi is writer-in-residence and programme leader of City University of Hong Kong’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing programme (photo: Paul Hilton)

Billed as the world’s only programme to focus on Asia, City University’s MFA concentrates on Asian writing and the students’ experience of Asia. “We read much more widely in Asian writing, both the writing in English and in translation, and many of our students are steeped in Asian culture and experience,” said Xu Xi, a novelist and MFA writer-in-residence and programme leader. “Every faculty member who teaches for us is Asia-connected, and this is unique among MFAs. We also encourage students to draw on their Asian linguistic and cultural backgrounds for their creative work.”

A Hong Kong native, Ms Xu said that the city is ideal for a regional programme, especially from a logistical point of view.

“We are a centre of Asia and for English-language literary endeavours; we have one of the first literary festivals,” Ms Xu said. “There’s infrastructure here. Compared to other destinations in Asia, this city is relatively easy to navigate. All that makes a difference.”

Poet Mary-Jane Newton agrees, pointing to small presses and writing groups, as well as larger festivals and literary journals.

“Hong Kong is a friendly place for anyone interested in literature and publishing,” said Ms Newton, Editorial Manager at Macmillan Publishers (China) Ltd, whose poetry collection, Of Symbols Misused, was published by local press Proverse last year.

“I have benefited enormously from literary groups. Hong Kong is also home to a number of high-quality and well-regarded literary journals, such as the Asia Literary Review or Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, and the Hong Kong Book Fair and the Hong Kong International Literary Festival are truly important statements of local ambition and intent.”

Hong Kong’s literary scene is still evolving, according to Dr Page Richards, Associate Professor, who runs the MFA in Creative Writing programme at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

“In the last five years, we’ve actually been able to see a base of collective programmes and different opportunities to allow different graduate programmes to exist,” said Dr Richards. “I’ve definitely seen the changes, and it’s still growing.”

New Voices


Poet Mary-Jane Newton is Editorial Manager at Macmillan Publishers (China) Ltd

In HKU’s MFA programme, students are asked to draw upon their Hong Kong experiences when writing and exploring subjects of their choice. For Dr Richards, this is critical to developing what she calls “a generation of voices coming out of Hong Kong.” Dr Richards adds that the programme is “really keen to develop a literature that comes from, and starts mapping from here. The subject might not be from here, but we want the writing to start and generate from Hong Kong.”

Dr Richards believes that Hong Kong is ideally located to be one of the regional centres for literature and books “because of its location, history, economy and culture, as well as all of the changes that are going on in the Chinese mainland. All of this makes Hong Kong students among the most exciting to hear.”

With its focus on Asia, City University’s MFA programme organises public readings to help foster and develop the literary community. Previous visiting writers have included Junot Diaz and Robert Olen Butler; this summer, Jose Dalisay, Jill Dawson and Ira Sukrungruang will join the residency. The programme is also involved in community activities ranging from the Asia Society and the Hong Kong Book Fair, to schools and writing competitions.


	Hong Kong university writing programmes are helping to nurture a new breed of writers with a uniquely Asian voice (photo: HKSAR Government)

“The programme brings international writers regularly to Hong Kong for our residencies and, each time, they give readings and lectures that are open to the public,” Ms Xu said. “And our students' and faculty's ongoing publications and activities internationally give our programme added prestige, because their connection to the City University MFA programme follows them.”

Xu Xi and Mary-Jane Newton are featured speakers at the HKTDC Hong Kong Book Fair 2012, 18-24 July, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

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4 July 2012

Literary City