Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2017

In partnership with the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, we are proud to bring the renowned author of the international bestseller Wild Swans, Jung Chang and much-loved British Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy to meet with literature lovers in a series of events at Hong Kong International Literary Festival from 3 to 12 November.

Lunch for Literacy with Jung Chang and Erin Ganju
In partnership with British Council
12.00 – 14.00 | Wednesday, 8 November 2017
China Club
13-14/F, Old Bank of China Building, Bank Street, Central
Ticket: $1,000，sold-out

For the first time, the Hong Kong International Literary Festival and Room to Read come together for this literary fundraiser featuring Jung Chang, the renowned author of the international bestseller Wild Swans, and Room to Read’s co-founder and CEO, Erin Ganju. Join us for a traditional Chinese lunch and a discussion focussing on writing, access to literature and diversity. The event will include readings by local poets and a fundraising auction. Proceeds will aid the HKILF’s and Room to Read’s various education projects. Ticket includes lunch with free-flow wine.

Carol Ann Duffy and John Sampson
In partnership with British Council
19.00 – 20.00 | Thursday, 9 November 2017
Upstairs, the Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central
Ticket: $125. Sold-out

Much-loved British Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy brings her 14-year-long collaboration with court musician John Sampson to the HKILF. Duffy will read from her Collected Poems, comprising works from The World’s Wife, Rapture and The Bees, whilst Sampson plays an array of fascinating period and modern instruments. This delightful interplay of thought-provoking poetry and exuberant music will make for a unique evening not to be missed.

Jung Chang: Who writes history?
In partnership with British Council
20.30 – 21.30 | Thursday, 9 November 2017
Upstairs, the Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central
Ticket: $125. Sold-out

Jung Chang broke publishing records when her memoir Wild Swans sold over 13 million copies worldwide. A riveting look at 100 years of Chinese history told through the lives of her grandmother, her mother and Chang herself, the book gave many readers their first insight into life under the Chinese Communist Party. Chang has since continued to offer groundbreaking accounts of modern Chinese history, from Mao’s rise to power to the rule of Empress Dowager Cixi. Chang will speak to Linda Kennedy about her career and her works, which are still banned in China.

About Jung Chang

Jung Chang is the author of the bestselling books Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China and Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China. Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. She has won many awards, including the UK Writers’ Guild Best Nonfiction and Book of the Year UK. Jung Chang was born in Sichuan Province, China in 1952. She left China for Britain in 1978 and obtained a PhD in linguistics in 1982 at the University of York—the first person from communist China to receive a doctorate from a British university.

About Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish poet and playwright. She was appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in 2009 and was the first woman, the first Scot and the first openly LGBTQI-identifying person to hold this position in its almost 350-year history. She is the creative director and professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. Duffy’s poetry has received awards including the Whitbread, Forward and T. S. Eliot prizes, as well as the Lannan and E. M. Forster prizes. Her works include The World’s Wife and Rapture. Her 2011 collection, The Bees, won the Costa Poetry Award, and in 2012 she won the PEN Pinter Prize. Her recent theatre work includes Everyman. Duffy received a DBE in the 2015 New Year Honours list for services to poetry.