The 6th Hong Kong Literature Festival (HKLF) was held with great success from 30 June to 16 July with an array of over 40 activities in 11 categories. Themed “Living the Literary Life”, the diverse programmes namely Thematic Exhibition, Symposium, Interflow, Performance, Literary Talks, Dialogue with Creators, Talks on Literary Translation, Literary Films, Children Literature Reading Camp and Appreciation and Recitation Workshop for Children’s Literature, all aimed to encourage the public to discover literary elements in their daily lives, thereby promoting and popularising literary writing and reading.

HKADC has been collaborating with Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) for the third time in presenting HKLF and has hosted Symposium, Interflow and Performance this year.

Symposium

Entitled “Hong Kong Literature: Local and Cross-Cultural Consciousness”, a distinguished panel of local and overseas speakers including Prof Yip Wai-lim, Prof Lawrence Wong Wang-chi, Prof Chen Zi-shan, Prof Chung Ling, Prof Wu Hung-I, Prof Cheng Pei-kai, Prof Stephen Chan Ching-kiu, Prof Fan Sin-piu, Prof Yeung Yuk-fung, Dr Wong Leung-wo, Dr Chan Chi-tak, Dr Cheung Wing-mui, Dr Ma Ka-fai and Mr Hon Man-po have brought a wide breadth of knowledge to the symposium stage. The speakers shared their distinct viewpoints and responded to the audiences towards the three subtopics, “The Local Consciousness of Hong Kong Literature”, “A Boundary-Crossing Hong Kong Literature” and “Literature of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Chinese Diaspora: Uniqueness and Commonality” . The Symposium was well received with approximately 500 attendances.

Symposium 1: The Local Consciousness of Hong Kong Literature

Symposium 2: A Boundary-Crossing Hong Kong Literature

Symposium 3: Literature of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Chinese Diaspora: Uniqueness and Commonality

Interflow

“Interflow” comprised seminars, workshops and performances which were organized by local literary groups and writers. The interactive activities encouraged the audience to engage in literary exchange with speakers and performers. Over 700 audiences have attended the 6 Interflow sessions.

“Contemporary Poetry Multi-media Recitation” featured poetry recitation and drama performed by secondary students while local poets recited their works in a cross-media setting. On the other side,“Poetry Makes People Visible” led audiences to explore the dialogue between poetry and daily life by a crossover of poems, music and images. In “Prose Poem Recitation and Writing Seminar”, the speakers also introduced the features of prose poem and its writing techniques. In “Reading and Everyday Life”, Professor Lo Wai-luen’s talk on old books sourcing has aroused keen responses and the audiences were also amazed by making their own hand bound books.

In “The Garden of Children Literature: An Exchange between Sowers from Hong Kong and Macau”, writers Ms Poon Ming-chu and Ms Poon Kim-ying recounted experiences of promoting children literature. In the same vein, speakers in “Literature-interact for Thinking Minds” examined ways of enhancing children’s literature appreciation ability through group discussions and short films.

Reading and Everyday Life: Hand bound books making

The Garden of Children Literature: An Exchange between Sowers from Hong Kong and Macau

Performance

Organized by a group of arts practitioners, literary works reinvented themselves as music pieces, dance, drama, Cantonese operas and cross-media presentations. The 6 performances have attracted a crowd of over 700 audiences.

In “Literature Theatre for Thinking Minds: Lost in Library”, children audiences were invited to participate in the play which amazed other curious audiences. “Teenagers and Children on Stage: Mulan Joins the Army” featured a cast of children and young actors demonstrating on stage both literary marvel and martial excellence.In “New Literature Experience in Chinese Stand-up Comedy”, performers boldly married traditional Chinese stand-up comedy with contemporary music in the new rendition of classics The Water Margin, The True Story of Ah Q and the Legendary Couple. In “Dance Performance Inspired by Books of Odes: The Love Continues”, professional dancers translated verses into recitation and dance sequences. In “Shadow Puppet Show and Post Talk” , audiences not only enjoyed an amazing play adapted from Old Man Moves a Mountain, they could also participate in shadow puppetry production. “Look! There flies Their 21 Grams” was a multi-media performance of modern Chinese poetry, live music and dance. The unique aura of poems was exemplified together with impressive images.

Teenagers and Children on Stage: Mulan Joins the Army

Literature Theatre for Thinking Minds: Lost in Library

The success of the above activities was greatly contributed by support from scholars as well as arts and literary groups. It is hoped that these activities would inspire the public to explore the joy of literary reading and continue to participate in coming literary activities.