6th Hong Kong Literature Festival Press Conference
Speech by Mr. Hon Man-po,
Chairman of Literary Arts Group, Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Date: 3:00pm, June 15, 2006
Venue: Activity Room 1, Hong Kong Central Library

Mr. Cheung, honourable guests and friends from the media,

Mr. Hon Man-po

Thank you Mr. Cheung for highlighting the programmes this year. For the third year in a row, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) is supporting and co-organizing the Festival with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). Guests from various literary arts sectors such as literary writing, publishing, promotion and education are invited to participate in this Festival which is definitely one of the most important events in the local literary calendar. To offer a wider range of activities to the public, the programmes are enriched with greater creativity and diversity.

With "Living the Literary Life" as its main theme, the Festival emphasizes how literature, as sublimed state of our lives, originates from and reflects our daily lives. The various activities all aim to encourage the public to explore the joy of literary reading starting from our everyday lives. Hong Kong literature has a long history of over 100 years and is a major division of Chinese literature. Being independent, Hong Kong literature distinguishes itself from that of various provinces in Mainland China with its regional and cross-cultural peculiarities. Since its beginning, it did not only represent the lives of the local public, but also actively responded to the major social changes in China. Striding into the 21st century, as the Internet brings a brand new way of living, it deserves writers to investigate how literature reacts to such phenomenon. To arouse public's interest in literary writing and reading, we hope to initiate interactive dialogues between the participants, speakers and writers in order to facilitate the sharing of experience on reading and writing.

The symposium titled "Hong Kong Literature: Local and Cross-Cultural Consciousness" is one of the Festival's key events. A distinguished panel of over 10 local and overseas speakers will bring a wide breadth of knowledge to the symposium stage sharing with us their views on the past and future of Hong Kong literature. We are also glad to invite Prof. Yip Wai-lim from USA, Prof. Wong Wang-chi from Singapore and Prof. Chen Zi-shan from Shanghai to be the guest speakers for this event.

Seeing the importance of local arts and literary groups in paving the way for literary development, we have invited professionals from different art forms to organize performances creatively merging performing arts and literature. "Performance" hence showcases music, dance, drama, Cantonese operas and multi-media performances which will inspire the audiences to appreciate literature from new perspectives. It also allows the artists to explore the possibilities of crossover between literature and other media, ultimately enriching the contents of both fields. "Interflow" sessions are also organized by local literary groups. From dynamic and interactive seminars, to workshops and performances, they provide a platform of literary exchanges for the audience, speakers and performers.

To obtain latest information of the Festival, the public are welcomed to visit the Festival's website launched by the organizers. Last but not least, I would like to thank the participating guests, literary and performing groups. The fervent and continued support from the public and the media also greatly contributes to the success of the Festival. Thank you for your ardent support.