Festival Schedule
All events cost 50RMB unless otherwise stated and include a glass of wine, beer or soft drink. Please see the reverse of each ticket for our full ticket policy.
Click on each day to see full schedule*
*Please note that not all events are listed in the calendar overview. Click More to see full listing.
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The Etiquette of Diplomacy - Lucinda Holdforth and Ambassador Dr Geoff Raby (SOLD OUT) |
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Friday 6th March 7:30pm In Celebration of Literature (SOLD OUT) Join us to celebrate the opening of The 4th Bookworm International Literary Festival as we delve right to the heart of the matter – books! Raise a glass to the upcoming two weeks of literary brilliance, as festival writers read excerpts of their work chosen to illustrate ‘the magic of books’, as we start the festival as we mean to go on – in celebration of literature.
Saturday 7th March 10am – 11.15am Kids: Diary of a Wildlife Photographer (ages 5+) - Jan Latta Take breakfast with a cheetah, touch the horn of a rhino, and survive an angry lion in the wilds of Africa … Just the start of another great adventure with wildlife photographer, and children’s writer Jan Latta! Come along to hear stories of some of Jan’s amazing experiences photographing animals in their natural habitats around the globe with handy tips on what to do when YOU’RE stranded in the jungle with just your camera for company…
Saturday 7th March 11.30am – 12.30pm Kids: Only an Excuse! Poetry workshops with Liz Niven (ages 9+)/(100RMB) My hamster ate my homework! Aliens stole my schoolbag! Have you ever made up an excuse to get out of something you just didn’t want to do? This morning, excuses become twice as useful as poet Liz Niven shows you how to turn your wackiest fibs into brilliant poetry!
Saturday 7th March 12.30pm – 2pm City of Heavenly Tranquility - Jasper Becker The great city of Beijing, capital of China from the ninth century, and given its form for five hundred years by the Ming Dynasty, was for a millennium one of the most extraordinary places on earth. But what physical evidence of that heritage can we still find around us today? Interlacing the city’s history with a frank assessment of the decades of recent upheaval that have been wrought on Beijing, both politically and architecturally, Jasper Becker introduces his fascinating new book, City of Heavenly Tranquility.
Saturday 7th March 2pm – 3.30pm All Poems Considered - Adults poetry workshop with Liz Niven (200RMB) Stuck for poetic inspiration? Join Liz Niven to explore how classical and contemporary poetry can be used to kick-start your own writing. Learn how by examining the form, voices and themes of other poets, you can reveal a different wealth of poetic talent – your own.
Saturday 7th March 3pm – 4.30pm In Conversation with…Blake Morrison, with Justin Hill Poet, novelist, critic, playwright, essayist, editor, memoirist – Blake Morrison’s forms are as numerous as the subjects from which he draws his inspiration. From the horrors of some of the UK’s most shocking news stories, to the fragility and power of our most private relationships, Blake Morrison’s writing distils experiences common to us all into the sort of writing very few of us can achieve. Join award winning novelist and travel writer Justin Hill as he puts his fellow Yorkshireman through his festival paces.
Saturday 7th March 7.30pm Live Literature: An Evening of Poetry and Music - Xi Chuan Xi Chuan, one of the most influential poets in contemporary China, presents an evening of readings from his wide-ranging and varied body of work, which spans from his associations with avant-garde poets in the eighties, to recent pieces set to music and performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Tonight, his poetry, both English and Chinese, is brought to you with interludes from local musicians, for a wonderful festival evening.
Sunday 8th March 10am – 11.15am Kids event with Susanne Gervay (ages 11 – 14) ‘Rock music, girls, guys, bullying, life - that's what I write about…’
For Jack it’s the cutthroat business of popularity and bullying, for the characters in The Cave it’s an epic journey where Knox and his friends face their greatest challenges yet, for Daisy Sunshine it’s growing up with only mum at home. Susanne Gervay takes the everyday experiences of young people and turns them into books that we can all relate to.
Sunday 8th March 10am – 4pm Memoir workshop with Blake Morrison (350RMB includes lunch) (SOLD OUT) Blake Morrison’s memoirs And when did you last see your father, and Things my mother never told me have been bestsellers in multiple countries. Learn from a master how to turn your stories into compelling personal narratives, whilst navigating the ethical mind field of writing about the people and experiences closest to you.
Sunday 8th March 3pm – 4.30pm In Conversation with…Rabih Alameddine with Chris Terry Listen. Allow me to be your god. Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let me tell you a story.
So begins Rabih Alameddine’s stunning new novel, ‘The Hakawati’. An ‘Arabian Nights’ for modern times, this breathtaking book interweaves bewitching stories with classic tales of the Middle East.. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the ancient, fabled Fatima; and Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders. Here, too, are contemporary Lebanese whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war—and of survival. Don’t miss your chance to be in the presence of a true ‘hakawati’ – a storyteller - in the classic sense, at this very special festival event.
Sunday 8th March 7.30pm China on the Internet Andrew Lih, Vanessa Na and Simon Elegant moderated by Jeremy Goldkorn (SOLD OUT) Today’s media landscape would have been unrecognizable to the foreign journalists and chroniclers who first arrived on China’s shores from afar. But today the internet is probably the world’s most important means of disseminating information about and from China.
This panel, comprising expert new media analysts and prominent Chinese and English language bloggers, looks at China’s relationship with the internet. Is the internet in Chinese developing differently from Western models? How is news, both from and about China, reported via websites and blogs? How does such reporting shape perceptions of China, both amongst its citizens and from abroad?
Monday 9th March 12.30pm – 2pm Inside and Outside: Rabih Alameddine, with Daniel Sanderson Is a writer who is gay obliged to write ‘gay fiction’? Does a novelist from Lebanon necessarily write Middle Eastern literature? Are all writers somehow on the margins, and writing from the outside? In this lively lunchtime session we explore how writers are pigeonholed by the politics of identity, and how far we allow our personal lives to creep unbidden into our fictional work.
Monday 9th March 7.30pm – 9pm In Conversation - Ian Buruma with Ed Gargan Ian Buruma is a novelist, political commentator and Asia specialist whose areas of interest and expertise are as numerous as the prizes he’s been awarded for his writing. Tonight, he’s joined by Ed Gargan for a wide-ranging look at his work, focusing in particular on his new novel, The China Lover, a fictionalized account of the life of Yoshiko Yamaguchi, a singer and actress who was the toast of Japanese-occupied Manchuria in the 1930’s.
Tuesday 10th March 12.30pm – 2pm Committing Journalism - HS Liu, Ian Buruma, Barbara Demick moderated by GLENN MOTT (SOLD OUT) Now a staple of The Bookworm International Literary Festival programme, our popular ‘Committing Journalism’ event is back for 2009! Between them, today’s panelists have received a Pulitzer, the Shorenstein Journalism award, the Erasmus prize and the Overseas Press Club’s award for human rights journalism. Join them this morning as they discuss the challenges of reporting on Asia. Today’s session is moderated by Glen Mott, Fulbright Scholar of Journalism at Tsinghua University.
Tuesday 10th March 7.30pm – 9pm In Conversation - Marina Lewycka with Jenny Niven (SOLD OUT) It’s a rare thing for a debut novel to sell a million copies in thirty languages, but A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian was in more ways than one a surprising book. Join Marina Lewycka tonight as she discusses the unusual story of her route to literary stardom, her second novel, Two Caravans which focused on the lives of Britain’s immigrants, and her forthcoming book, which features ‘categorically, no vehicles, and no Ukranians’.
Wednesday 11th March 12.30pm Tractors and Caravans - Marina Lewycka (ages 14 and up) This afternoon Marina Lewycka gives a special booktalk for young people on her brilliant, best selling novels A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, and Two Caravans. Hear first hand experiences of the writing life and get your chance to ask the questions you’ve always wanted on what it’s like to be an author.
Wednesday 11th March 7.30pm In Conversation - William F. Zorzi, with GADY Epstein (SOLD OUT) Social critique has rarely come in sharper form in recent years than from the biting HBO series, “The Wire”. Set among the housing estates, political offices and police stations of Baltimore, ‘‘The Wire” has been described as “TV as great modern literature” (Matt Roush, TV Guide), and has been endorsed by President Barack Obama. Tonight, Bill Zorzi, screenwriter for the show, discusses with former fellow Baltimore Sun journalist Gady Epstein (now Forbes Beijing Bureau Chief) the fine line between fiction and hard-hitting reality, which the show so successfully captured.
Thursday 12th March 12.30pm – 2pm In Conversation with Alon Hilu, with Shai Oster Alon Hilu is a young Israeli writer and playwright whose work takes as its core the relationships between Jewish and Palestinian people. This morning he discusses his extremely topical writing, the challenges of writing about conflict, and the role of art and literature in difficult times.
Thursday 12th March 7:30pm The Art of the Essay - Eliot Weinberger Eliot Weinberger has taken the essay form into unexplored territories, on the borders of poetry and narrative, where the only rule is that all the information must be verifiable. Eliot’s commentary ranges from thoughts on American contemporary politics, to the occasions throughout history on which rhinos were presented as royal gifts, to second century Taoist texts, but is always fascinating, beautifully articulate and deeply thought provoking. Tonight, we explore this unsung art, in the hands of a master craftsman.
Friday 13th March 12.30pm Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper - Fuchsia Dunlop (SOLD OUT) Fuchsia Dunlop was the first foreigner to train as a chef at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine and has become Britain’s foremost writer on Chinese cuisine. Her cookery books, all three of which are infused with a deep love for the food and culture of China, were followed in 2008 with Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: a sweet-sour memoir of eating in China, which Fuchsia discusses today.
Friday 13th March 5.30pm – 7pm Criminal Minds - Ridley Pearson and Catherine Sampson, moderated by Paul French New York Times bestseller and author of more than thirty novels gets together with Beijing’s best-loved crime writer Catherine Sampson to flesh out the grisly details of what makes great crime fiction, and discuss the murky ethical issues surrounding serving up the seedier aspects of society for entertainment. Moderated by Paul French.
Friday 13th March 1pm(FESTIVAL EVENTS at The Yin Yang Centre) Writing China: Nicole Mones This afternoon, author Nicole Mones (Lost in Translation, The Last Chinese Chef) discusses the specific challenge of writing fiction set in China, for Western audiences. Do readers have preconceived notions of what China should look like and how its people should behave? Should writers challenge these expectations, or conform to them? Join us for a lively session on the issues surrounding representing China in fiction.
Saturday 14th March 10am China Museums Tour - Cathy Giangrande and Miriam Clifford (250RMB includes coffee, transportation and museum entrance) Beijing’s Eunuch Museum, The Sichuan Cuisine Museum and Zigong’s Museum of Middle Jurassic dinosaur fossils are just a few examples of the little explored treasure houses now open to the public in China. Over four years the authors of CHINA: museums journeyed across China to produce a museum guide for intrepid travellers wishing to enhance their understanding of China’s culture, history and art. The authors, Miriam Clifford and Cathy Giangrande will present a selection of their favourite places and then take you to Beijing’s Geological Museum where, together with a museum curator you will see the marvels in this collection – from rare mineral clusters to China’s famous feathered dinosaur fossils.
Saturday 14th March 12.30pm - 2pm Destination China - Zackary Mexico and James West (SOLD OUT) Punk music, homosexuality, subcultures and changing perceptions of freedom and the West - the issues occupying today’s youth in China are arguably not those which shaped their parents. James West and Zackary Mexico are representative of a new generation of China commentators who are interested in youth and how it’s lived in twenty first century Beijing and beyond. Hear them read from Beijing Blur (West) and China Underground (Mexico) and share their experiences of writing two of 2008’s freshest approaches to the ‘China story’.
Saturday 14th March 3pm – 4.30pm Big Breasts and Wide Hips - Howard Goldblatt and Mo Yan (SOLD OUT) Mo Yan is one of China’s most important contemporary novelists. Tackling China's tumultuous past century with a mix of magical realism and sharp-eyed satire, he is undoubtedly one of the most famous, oft-banned and widely pirated of all Chinese writers.
Howard Goldblatt has translated prize-winning Chinese literature into English for more than thirty years, including numerous works of Mo Yan’s fiction. Spend an afternoon in the company of these two fascinating gents to hear them discuss their work, both individual and collaborative, as they share some of their thoughts on Chinese literature today.
Saturday 14th March 8pm Todd Zuniga presents: The Literary Death Match Literary Death Match, hosted by Opium Magazine’s founding editor Todd Zuniga, features a thrilling mix of four famous and emerging authors who perform their most electric writing before a live studio audience and a panel of three watchful, all-star judges. After a pair of readings, the judges - focused on literary merit, performance and intangibles - take turns spouting hilarious, off-the-wall commentary about each story, then select their favorite to advance to the finals.
Todd brings his groundbreaking literary humor series all the way from New York (where the event has featured the likes of comedian Steve Martin, author Junot Diaz and New Yorker editor Ben Greenman), Tonight, Todd puts James West, Zackary Mexico, Liz Niven and Ridley Pearson to the Literary Death Match test.
Saturday 14th March 2pm(FESTIVAL EVENTS at The Yin Yang Centre) Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: Fuchsia Dunlop Fuchsia Dunlop was the first foreigner to train as a chef at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine and has become Britain’s foremost writer on Chinese cuisine. Her cookery books, all three of which are infused with a deep love for the food and culture of China, were followed in 2008 with Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: a sweet-sour memoir of eating in China, which Fuchsia discusses today.
Sunday 15th March 10am Wake up! A morning with Ridley - Kids Session with Ridley Pearson (ages 9+) Ridley Pearson has written five series of books for children and young adults, including ‘Peter and the Starcatchers’, based on the life of Peter Pan, which spent a massive 47 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. He’s also a singer in a band of celebrity authors whose motto is ‘We play music as well as Metallica writes novels’…Come along for a ferocious Sunday morning wake-up call from Ridley as he gives a whirlwind tour through some of his best loved books.
Sunday 15th March 10am – 12pm Bookbinding workshop: Jen Hyde (kids)/(200RMB includes materials) Learn how to construct a book from start to finish using all the tools of the trade, as well as details on how to include secret pages in your books… Fun, and totally hands-on, this workshop gives you the chance to learn something totally different. Absolutely no experience necessary!
Sunday 15th March 2pm – 5pm Bookbinding workshop: Jen Hyde (adults)/(250RMB includes materials) Multi-disciplinary artist Jen Hyde leads this highly unusual, fun and practical workshop on traditional book binding methods and techniques. Using awls and bone folders, learn how to craft exquisite hand made books and journals. Absolutely no experience necessary!
Sunday 15th March 3pm – 4.30pm From Paddy Field to High-rise: China as a Setting for Fiction - Nicole Mones and Liu Hong moderated by James West (SOLD OUT) Why is China such a rich setting for fiction, geographically, historically, politically? What are the constraints, challenges, opportunities and responsibilities for writers who re-create China as fiction for Western readers? Nicole Mones (Lost in Translation, The Last Chinese Chef) and Liu Hong (Wives of the East Wind, Startling Moon) debate these, and other pressing literary questions, with James West.
Sunday 15th March 7.30pm Levelling the Playing Field: Asian Movies and the West - Mark Cousins (SOLD OUT) Mark Cousins is film critic, producer and director. From directing the Edinburgh Film Festival to interviewing the likes of Martin Scorcese, Woody Allen and the Coen brothers for his BBC show, Scene By Scene, Mark’s knowledge of film is encyclopaedic. Tonight he discusses his provocative ideas on the relationship between Asian cinema and the West, as explored in his brand new book ‘Widescreen: Watching Real People Elsewhere’.
Monday 16th March 12.30pm – 2pm Secrets and Spies - Mara Moustafine, with Adam Williams (SOLD OUT) Mara Moustafine was born in Harbin to a family of Russian Jews. Her book, Secrets and Spies: The Harbin Files tells the story of her family’s life over 50 turbulent years in China and her quest to uncover the fate of family members who fled the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in the 1930s, only to be caught in Stalin’s purges. She’s joined today by Adam Williams, whose equally fascinating family history in China informs his interest in Mara’s writing.
Monday 16th March 3pm Writing for Children - Jane Godwin, with Nikki Anderson Jane Godwin is a publisher of Children’s Books with Penguin Australia, the author of several books for children and young people and the recipient of the Queensland Premier Award for children’s books. This afternoon, she gives an open and informative seminar on writing for the children’s market, with tips on getting published.
Monday 16th March 1-3pm (FESTIVAL EVENTS at The Yin Yang Centre) Poetry Workshop: Tina Chang & Nathalie Handal Join poets Tina Chang and Nathalie Handal as they share their practical suggestions and tips on a range of aspects of the creative process of writing poetry. From finding inspiration to editing your work, this workshop offers a hands-on approach to getting started with poetry.
Tuesday 17th March 12.30pm – 2pm Book Launch - English: a novel - Wang Gang During the darkest days of the Cultural Revolution, a twelve-year-old boy wonders what life is like beyond the borders of Xinjiang. Here, conformity is valued above all else, and suspicion governs every exchange among neighbours, classmates, and even friends. Into this stifling atmosphere comes a tall, clean-shaven teacher from Shanghai, with an elegant gray wool jacket and an English dictionary tucked under his arm.
A major bestseller in China, English is a transcendent novel about a boy’s self-discovery, a country’s shame, and the transporting power of language. Join us to celebrate the launch of the English translation of Wang Gang’s English.
Tuesday 17th March 3pm – 4.30pm Is History Fiction? Jonathan Fenby, Geremie Barme and Henry Reynolds (SOLD OUT) Three eminent historians limber up this afternoon ¬to take on the question of whether history can ever be truly objective, and to explore the role of the historian. Jonathan Fenby is author of The Penguin History of Modern China, Geremie Barme has written extensively on Chinese history, most recently in The Forbidden City, and Henry Reynolds is one of Australia’s most influential – and controversial - scholars. Not to be missed!
Tuesday 17th March 7.30pm A Literary Dinner with Jonathan Fenby(260RMB) Join Jonathan Fenby (The Penguin History of Modern China) tonight for the second of our splendid festival Literary Dinners. Over great food and fine wine, this is your opportunity to hear Jonathan’s thoughts on China today, in a relaxed and intimate setting.
Tuesday 17th March 7.30pm (FESTIVAL EVENTS at The Yin Yang Centre) Smoke and Mirrors: a book talk with Pallavi Aiyar Despite interaction between India and China spanning over 2000 years, it is remarkable that their people know so little of each other. Pallavi Aiyar’s new book Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China deftly raises questions about the deeper concerns of development and freedom that are relevant to both India and China. As these two countries grow in economic strength and international influence, understanding the differential nature of their achievements and failings is a necessity for a global audience. Smoke and Mirrors breaks down many cliches and opens new gateways through which to understand Chindia. Award winning journalist Pallavi Aiyar is China correspondent for ‘The Hindu’.
Wednesday 18th March 12.30pm China Cuckoo - Mark Kitto, moderated by Nick Bonner Mark Kitto was the founder of ‘That’s’, China’s most recognisable brand of expat magazines. However, his story of doing business in China serves now as more of a warning call for would-be entrepreneurs than an inspiring tale for aspiring publishers. Since retreating to a renovated cottage on a mountain in Moganshan, Mark has written an honest, funny and touching account of his amazing and sometimes disastrous adventures in the world of Chinese printed publications. His sparring partner for today’s session is writer, filmmaker and North Korea expert, Nick Bonner.
Wednesday 18th March 7.30pm The Shadow of the Past: How China’s History Influences its Present - Jonathan Fenby (SOLD OUT) Eminent China scholar Jonathan Fenby (The Penguin History of Modern China) takes us on a sweeping tour of China's history since 1850, and examines how its shadow influences the PRC today. Examining the shift from poverty and instability to growing prosperity and stability, he poses, and answers questions key to China’s future: with the present economic downturn and social protests, is China’s growth sustainable? Will history repeat itself in dynastic difficulties?
Thursday 19th March 12.30pm Mean Women and Stupid Men: the Lives of Fictional Characters - Helene Uri, with Bard Sandvei By her own admission, Helene Uri’s female characters are always horribly mean to each other, while her men are hopelessly naïve. How are characters created in fiction? What kind of control does an author have over his or her characters? Helene, one of Norway’s bestselling authors, discusses her work with Professor of Norwegian studies at BEIWAI University, Bard Sandvei.
Thursday 19th March 7:30pm Postcards from Tomorrow’s Square - James Fallows (SOLD OUT) Acclaimed author and commentator James Fallows joins us tonight to discuss his brand new book, Postcards from Tomorrow’s Square. Distilling the complexities of China’s current economic, political and social climates into articulate essays (first published in The Atlantic Monthly) Postcards is a fascinating overview of Fallows writing on China from 2006, and is sure to be one of the sell out events of this year’s festival programme.
Friday 20th March 12.30pm The Etiquette of Diplomacy - Lucinda Holdforth and Ambassador Dr Geoff Raby (SOLD OUT) Former diplomat, speechwriter and consultant Lucinda Holdforth discusses the importance of manners in public life with Australian ambassador Dr Geoff Raby. Not concerned with manners merely for manners sake, Lucinda Holdforth believes that manners are essential in preserving our rights and freedoms and expanding the social space. Her witty and erudite Why Manners Matter: The Case for Civilised Behaviour is a journey through the minds of great writers and thinkers in looking at how a little politesse can accommodate everyone in our overcrowded world.
Friday 20th March 7:30pm CLOSING EVENT We’ve been whisked to bygone eras, we’ve travelled to unknown lands, we’ve debated the possibilities and limitations of fiction, we’ve made books and poems, we’ve met fabulous writers and we’ve been thrilled and inspired by it all. Now, quite simply, it’s time for a party. Join us to toast the Closing of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2009 and to raise a glass to all the authors, sponsors, volunteers – and audiences – who make our festival possible.
Click here to see 2009 festival author biographies >>
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