The 13th Hong Kong Literature Festival – an important biennial event in support of Hong Kong literature – kicked off at Hong Kong Central Library (HKCL) today (June 23). The festival is organised by the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
The theme of the festival is "Moments in Literature". Various activities will be held to explore how writers, through literary reappearance and imagination, portray their vision and experiences as well as reconstruct scenery and people in different times.
The festival commences with a thematic exhibition "Moments in Literature", which runs from today to July 12 at the HKCL Exhibition Gallery. It is divided into four parts, namely "Eye on Nature", which identifies natural landscapes for leisure walks on the outskirts of the city; "Wandering the Streets", which dives into writers' deepest thoughts and tender sentiments in witnessing social changes; "Taste of Memories", which brings back the good old days and "Portrait of Humanity", which looks into the daily lives of different social classes and their struggles against social changes. The tie-in activity "Literary Works in Virtual Reality" provides a new mode for participants to appreciate literature through the application of virtual reality and augmented reality.
As well, the winning works of the pre-festival "Childhood Memories" Chinese Writing Competition are on display at the exhibition. The competition received more than 600 entries. The winners list and winning entries (Chinese versions only) have been uploaded to the HKPL website www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/extension-activities/hklf/hklf13/programmes/childhood-memories-writing-competition.html.
The festival also features numerous live online events, including three symposiums under the title of "Moments in Literature", while "Interflow" is organised by local cultural groups. During the "Moments in Literature" online symposiums, several literary researchers will share their views on how the intermingling of time, space and memories inspire writers.
The live broadcast "Interflow" will be conducted in an innovative way to explore the fun in literary appreciation and art creation. With three sessions, the programme will begin with "Searching for Nature from Androgyny" where the director will share how imageries and concepts can be transformed to drama and dance. In the second session, "From the Script to Stage: Appreciation of 'Plum Blossom under the Lion Rock'", the playwright and performers will share their notions of creativity and performance from a literary perspective and their vision of literature and Cantonese opera. Finally, "Literary Space in Theatre with Prologue of the Drama 'Mulan'" will explore the adaptation of literary text into drama.
More festival programmes will be held early next year, including "Good Read Series", "Literature without Borders" and "Group Reading Workshops". All activities are free. For more details, please visit www.hkpl.gov.hk/13hklf or call 2928 4551 for enquires.
In view of the latest situation of COVID-19, special measures will be adopted to limit visitor flow in the HKCL. Children under 12 will only be allowed to enter when accompanied by an adult. Visitors will need to use hand sanitiser and will be subject to temperature checks before admission. They are also advised to wear their own masks. Please visit www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/index.html for details.
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