PRESS RELEASE
2002.5.22
"Literary Interaction in the New Era" for The 4th Hong Kong Literature Festival
Literature is not necessarily boring and difficult to learn. It can be fun and in fact applies to our daily life. .
What is the interactive relationship between literature and advertising, films and news? Any tips for kids to enjoy reading "Lord of the Rings"? What is the impact of internet on literature? Any insights for collaboration between literature and drama, dance, music and Chinese opera? What is the creative world of local authors and artists?
Jointly presented for the first time by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) to promote reading and the Hong Kong literature, The 4th Hong Kong Literature Festival will be held from June 22 to July 14, offering a great variety of over 40 interesting and interactive programmes for the public to participate. The Festival is also part of the celebratory activities for the 5th anniversary of the HKSAR and the 40th anniversary of the Hong Kong Public Libraries.
The theme of the Festival this year is "Literary Interaction in the New Era". "Interactive" can refer to interaction between people, objects such as media or even between time and space. The programmes this year will include a prominent thematic exhibition, symposiums with writers and scholars from various places, outreach and interactive activities in different formats, face-to-face talks with writers, artists, film-makers, poets, a literary camp, competitions and a delightful carnival, offering a valuable opportunity for the general public to understand and explore literature from a new approach.
A website-launching ceremony and a press conference were held today (May 22) to announce the details of the Festival. Those officiating at the ceremony included the Deputy Director of the Leisure and Cultural Services (Culture), Miss Choi Suk-kuen; the Chairman of the HKADC, Dr Patrick Ho; Chief Librarian (Extension Activities and New Territories), Mr Wu Man-fong; and Vice-Chairman of Literary Arts Group of the HKADC, Mr Pak Fook-chun.
One of the highlights of the Festival is the "Thematic exhibition: The literary bond of Mainland China and Hong Kong", which is jointly organized with the National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature. Study rooms of three renowned Chinese writers Ding Ling, Xiao Jun and Duan Mu Hong-liang will be moved to Hong Kong from Beijing. Also, precious literary materials of well-known Chinese writers such as Lu Xun, Ba Jin, Mao Dun, Bing Xin, Cao Yu, Gao Mo Ruo and Eileen Chang and others will be displayed.
The exhibition will also feature traces of Chinese writers in various places of Hong Kong as well as the look of Hong Kong as described in their writings. There will also be literary supplements and periodicals which have nourished the growth of Hong Kong writers and the precious literary materials of the writers. In addition, over 50 original paintings of ex-libris of National Museum of Museum of Modern Chinese Literature will be shown.
The Festival has organized three symposiums with over 10 writers and scholars from the Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas to discuss the development of literature from different perspectives. "City Literature" focuses on the literature of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei, their cultural similarities and differences, as well as the inter-relationship and impact among them. The symposium of "New Century, New Generation, New Authors" will explore issues like network influence on the development of literature, the style of the new-generation authors, their legacy and future development while "The New and Old of Hong Kong Literature: Lyrics Writing" will focus on the development of lyrics writing, the authors and the characteristics of their works.
Of the interactive activities, this is the first time that the local community will be deeply involved in the "Inter-flows", which cover topics like literary education, children literature, science fiction and modern poetry. RTHK's "Words Creativity" will invite professionals from the disciplines of advertising, films and news to share their views on the interactive relationship between literature and the media. Not to be missed are the chances to talk with the authors face-to-face in the "Authors' Talks".
Another highlight is "Literary Performances" planned and produced by various local community and performing groups. Children literature, popular idioms, well-known poems, works of writers will be interpreted in drama, Jung Kun opera, music, dance and Cantonese opera, with innovative ideas to show the various dimensions of literature.
Tailor-made programmes are also organized to promote reading among youngsters. During the three-day "Literary Camp", jointly organized by the RTHK and The Hong Kong Institute of Education, youngsters are encouraged to learn creative writing in an outdoor and relaxed atmosphere through authors' talks, tutorials and campsite activities. Students are recommended to join the "Writers' Talks", held at different venues of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories where the writers will share their experience in creative writing and joy of reading.
Three competitions, "Literary Performance Competition for Students", "Hong Kong Portraits Writing Competition" and "Literary Webpage Design Competition", have been held as the pre-festival activities to encourage the youth to try different types of literary writing. The winning pieces will be shown during the Festival.
The finale of the Festival will be "The "Literary Carnival" to be held on July 13 and 14 at the Victoria Park with book fairs, reading game booths, crafts workshops, children drama and performance
All the activities (except the "Literary Camp") of the 4th Hong Kong Literature Festival are free of charge on a first-come-first-served basis. Booklets of the Festival are available at all public libraries, cultural venues of LCSD and Administration office of the HKADC. Website: www.hkliteraturefestival.org.hk. Enquiries can be made at 2921 2648 (LCSD) or 2820 1097 (HKADC).
2002.6.22
4th Hong Kong Literature Festival Opens With Variety of Programmes
"Literature" and "Art" are not as incomprehensible as people might imagine. It can be fun and is in fact a part of our daily life.
Jointly presented for the first time by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC), the 4th Hong Kong Literature Festival, which is being held from today (Saturday) to July 14, is an important event in the cultural calendar.
A great variety of over 40 interesting and interactive programmes including a prominent thematic exhibition, symposiums with writers and scholars from various places, outreach and interactive activities in different formats, performances and a delightful carnival are offered for the public to experience the delights of literature.
The Festival opens today at the Hong Kong Central Library (HKCL) Exhibition Hall with one of its highlights "Thematic Exhibition: The Literary Bond of Mainland and Hong Kong". Those officiating at the ceremony included the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mr Paul Leung; the Vice-chairman of HKADC, Mr Darwin Chen; the Chairman of the Literary Arts Group of HKADC, Dr Chan Man Hung and the Director of the National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature, Mr Shu Yi.
With the theme "Literary Interaction in the New Era", the Festival is part of the celebratory activities for the 5th anniversary of the HKSAR and the 40th anniversary of the Hong Kong Public Libraries. It is also the first time to jointly organize with the National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature in staging the "Thematic Exhibition: The Literary Bond of Mainland and Hong Kong" which reflects the close tie of the two places from the literary perspective.
Moreover, it is the first time for the participation of various local cultural communities in the planning and organization of some of the events, thereby fully realizing the idea of literary interaction and adding lustre to the festival as well as enabling the public to enjoy different facets of literature from arts, performances, news, films, advertisements and face-to-face talks with writers to share their creativity.
One of the features in the distinctive "Thematic Exhibition: The Literary Bond of Mainland and Hong Kong" are the study rooms of three renowned Chinese writers Ding Ling, Xiao Jun and Duan Mu Hong-liang, which are specially moved to Hong Kong from Beijing. The artifacts include furniture, pictures and small ornaments which reflect the lives of the writers. In addition, precious literary materials of well-known Chinese writers such as Lu Xun, Ba Jin, Mao Dun, Bing Xin, Cao Yu, Gao Mo-ruo, Eileen Chang and others will be displayed.
The exhibition also features traces of Chinese writers in various places of Hong Kong as well as the look of Hong Kong as described in the authors' writings. Public can identify interesting locations such as the hall where Lu Xun gave his lectures and places where Eileen Chang wrote her scripts. Literary supplements and periodicals, which have nourished the growth of Hong Kong writers and the precious literary materials of writers are also featured.
In addition, over 50 original paintings of ex-libris of National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature are shown.
In addition to the display, Mr Shu Yi will host two exhibition talks-"Lao She and Beijing Culture" at 5:30 pm today, and "Modern Chinese Literature and National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature" at 3:30 pm on June 28 (Friday) at the HKCL activity room. Both talks will be conducted in Putonghua.
The Festival has arranged three symposiums with over 10 writers and scholars from the Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas to discuss the development of literature from different perspectives. "City Literatures" focuses on the cultural similarities and differences, the inter-relationship and the impact among the literatures of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei. The symposium of "New Century, New Generation, New Authors" will explore issues like network influence on the development of literature, the style of the new-generation authors, their legacy and future development while "The New and Old of Hong Kong Literature: Lyrics Writing" will focus on the development of lyrics writing, the authors and the characteristics of their works.
Lively "Literary Performances" by various local community and performing groups at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre foyer is another highlight this year. Children's literature, popular idioms, well-known poems, works of writers will be interpreted in drama, Jing opera, music, dance and Cantonese opera with innovative ideas to show the various dimensions of literature.
Not to be missed are the "Interflows" which are organized by the local community to feature topics like literary education, children's literature, science fiction and modern poetry. To have a direct communication with their favourite authors, members of the public can participate in the various sessions of "Authors' Talks" to exchange their views face-to-face. Students are recommended to join the "Writers' Talks" held at different venues to share the experience of creative writing and joy of reading. In addition, RTHK's "Words Creativity" will invite professionals from the disciplines of advertising, films and news to share their views on interactive relationship between literature and the media.
Three competitions including the "Literary Performance Competition for Students", were held as the pre-festival activities to encourage youths to try different types of literary writing. The winning pieces of "Literary Webpage Design Competition" will be shown on the Festival's website while the "Hong Kong Portraits Writing Competition" winning pieces will be on display at the HKCL.
A three-day "Literary Camp" will be organized in July by the RTHK and the Hong Kong Institute of Education for learning creative writing in an outdoor atmosphere. The finale of the Festival is the fun-filled " Literary Carnival" on July 13 and 14 at the Victoria Park with book fairs, reading game booths, crafts workshops and performances.
All the activities (except the "Literary Camp") of the 4th Hong Kong Literature Festival are free of charge on a first-come-first-served basis. Other than "The love of Reading and Learning", talks and seminars are conducted in Cantonese or Mandarin. Booklets of the Festival are available at all public libraries, cultural venues of LCSD and Administration office of the HKADC. Website: www.hkliteraturefestival.org.hk Enquiries can be made at 2921 2648 (LCSD) or 2820 1097 (HKADC).