In an increasingly shifting global landscape, literature in all its genres, from short stories to graphic novels, from fiction to poetry, has become one of the most imaginative components to break cultural barriers and to hear diverse, international voices from across the globe. In partnership with the British Council, Wasafiri – the UK's leading magazine for contemporary writing since 1984, will celebrate the launch of its annual special issue focus on Hong Kong writing in a panel discussion on 1 December 2017.
WRITING THE CITY: LITERARY LANDSCAPES OF HONG KONG AND LONDON
A panel discussion co-presented by Wasafiri and British Council
18.30-20.30 | Friday 1 December 2017
British Council
Room 307-308, 3/F, 3 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Conducted in English
Panelists:
Shirley Geok-lin Lim, world-renowned writer of poetry, fiction, and criticism
Jeffrey Mather, Co-editor of the Wasafiri Hong Kong issue
Dorothy Tse, Hong Kong fiction writer
Denis Wong, Brooklyn/Hong Kong-based writer
Rukhsana Yasmin, Deputy Editor of Wasafiri
Free admission. Registration is required HERE
Launched in 1984, Wasafiri is quarterly magazine renowned for publishing some of the world’s most distinguished writers including Chinua Achebe, Kamau Brathwaite, Anita Desai, Gillian Slovo and Ben Okri amongst many others. Having pioneered a shift in the literary, cultural and critical landscape, the magazine draws widely across modern culture and the arts, publishing a lively and informed mix of fiction, poetry, interviews, essays and reviews. This year Wasafiri Autumn issue features Hong Kong as its annual country focus theme, exploring new critical and creative approaches that directly engage with Hong Kong’s geography, history, politics and poetics.
In the panel discussion chair by Professor Jeffrey Mather (co-editor of ‘Writing Hong Kong’ issue), the speakers will explore the diversity of language, form and genre leads to the question ‘What is the Hong Kong voice?’, and discuss the way in which political identities are expressed and formulated through their work in different narrative forms and explore issues relating to urban identity, globalisation and social inequality.
About the speakers