Explore literary wonders at the HKILF this March

Just when you thought you’d get a rest after the recent holiday madness, the Hong Kong International Literary Festival returns from March 1 to 8. Venues across Hong Kong, from the Central Library to Soho House, will host a packed schedule of 68 events, including literary lunches, workshops, family-friendly sessions and spotlights on International Women’s Day (with an extended Young Readers Festival schools programme from February 24 to March 7).

Having previously hosted literary giants such as Margaret Atwood, Amy Tan, Shehan Karunatilaka, Irvine Welsh and Kevin Kwan, this year the festival welcomes authors and topics as far-reaching as American historian Steven Schwankert discussing his new book, The Six, about Chinese on the Titanic, to British author Paul French fielding century-old intrigue surrounding the main character of his latest historical offering, Her Lotus Year.

A marquee attendee will be Alka Joshi, the Indian-American author of the Jaipur trilogy having embarked on her writing career after enrolling in an MFA programme at the age of 51. Joshi will share her inspiring journey and discuss her bestselling debut novel, The Henna Artist (2020). This Reese Witherspoon book club pick transports readers to 1950s Jaipur, where a young woman defies societal expectations to carve out a life for herself. Another big draw is Sydney-based Madeleine Gray, whose debut novel, Green Dot (2023), has garnered much critical acclaim, with The Guardian calling it “a witty tale of obsessive love”. Gray’s contemporary narrative explores the humour, heartbreak and struggles of modern adulthood, navigating complicated relationships and the pursuit of happiness.

The festival will also welcome Bernardine Evaristo, the first Black woman to win the Booker Prize. Evaristo’s 2019 award-winning novel, Girl, Woman, Other, master­fully interconnects 12 lives across generations, examining identity, race and gender in Britain. She’s set to discuss her 2021 memoir, Manifesto: On Never Giving Up.

Local talent will also be featured throughout the festival. In The Girl Who Dreamed: A Hong Kong Memoir of Triumph Against the Odds (2024), Sonia Leung recounts a traumatic incident during her childhood and the journey to rebuilding herself. Festival attendees can sign up for a writing workshop led by Leung. And then there’s counterculture legend Benny Chia Chun-heng, dishing all the dirt on what it took to keep the Fringe Festival going all those years, in his memoir, Life on the Fringe (2024).