Book Fair Highlights to Include Expanded English Author Line-Up

	Taking part in today’s Book Fair press conference are (left to right): Siu Sai Wo, Ku Tin Lung, Leung Wing Chong Terence, Chairman, Hong Kong Children’s Book Publishers Alliance and General Manager, Department of Business Development, Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Ltd; Dr Chan Man Hung, Chairman, Hong Kong Publishing Federation; Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director, Hong Kong Trade Development Council; Yau Lop Poon, Editor-in-Chief, Yazhou Zhoukan; Dr Ng Man Yee, Head of Culture/Education and New Developments (Radio), RTHK; Raymond Ho, Head of Content Management of 3 Hong Kong; and Pearl Poon. Yau Lop Poon, Ng Man Yee, Siu Sai Wo, Ku Tin Lung and Pearl Poon are members of the Hong Kong Book Fair Cultural Activities Advisory Panel
	Chinese writer Xi Xi is this year’s Book Fair “Author of the Year.” Her handmade stuffed apes will be on display at the Book Fair Art Gallery, along with manuscripts and objects related to her writing
	Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director, HKTDC
	Yau Lop Poon, Editor-in-Chief, Yazhou Zhoukan
	Dr Ng Man Yee, Head of Culture/Education and New Developments (Radio), RTHK
	Dr Chan Man Hung, Chairman, Hong Kong Publishing Federation
	Raymond Ho, Head of Content Management, 3 Hong Kong
	Leung Wing Chong Terence, Chairman, Hong Kong Children’s Book Publishers Alliance, and General Manager, Department of Business Development, Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Ltd

28 June 2011 – Food writer Tom Parker Bowles, novelist and publisher Nicholas Coleridge, critic and essayist AA Gill and historian and broadcaster David Starkey are among the distinguished authors participating in the 22^nd edition of the HKTDC Hong Kong Book Fair, 20-26 July, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

More than 520 exhibitors from 18 countries and regions will also take part, a new exhibitor record. The fair, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), will feature close to 300 cultural events under the theme “Reading the World, Reading as Self-Discovery.” 

Public Forums Return
Four British authors will be featured at two open forums, 22 July at the HKCEC, and 23 July at the University of Hong Kong’s Loke Yew Hall. The sessions will be moderated by Hong Kong businessman and author Sir David Tang.

UK poet Wendy Cope, Hong Kong-based British author Justin Hill and Julia Lovell, who lectures in modern Chinese history and literature at the University of London, will also speak at the fair. Other notable authors taking part include Americans Ridley Pearson and Karl Taro Greenfeld, India’s Tabish Khair and Hong Kong’s own Xu Xi. Each will host a public session. Ms Lovell’s latest book, The Opium War, will be launched at her event. Chip Tsao and Peter Gordon will moderate select sessions.

Taiwan’s Li Ao and the mainland’s Bi Feiyu, winner of the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize, are among the authors taking part in the Renowned Writers Series, organised by the HKTDC and Yazhou Zhoukan. The series will also showcase authors from Hong Kong and Japan.

An exhibition of the work of Hong Kong author Xi Xi, this year’s Book Fair "Author of the Year," will be on display at the fair’s Art Gallery.

Global Publishing
Other highlights this year include English Avenue, with nearly 90 booths and the largest display of English books ever shown at the fair. Several international publishers will take part for the first time, including Penguin, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Random House. They will be joined by such regional exhibitors as Page One, Metrobooks, Bookazine and Swindon. The International Cultural Village will feature books from 13 countries and regions. A Copyright Exchange Lounge will put buyers and exhibitors together.

Digital Delights
“New Opportunities for Digital Publishing” is the theme of the fair’s International Publishing Forum. The 20 July event will feature speakers from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Still with digital publishing, the e-Books and e-Learning Resources zone is 59 per cent larger this year and includes a Future Book Store, allowing fairgoers to customise their own books.

A concurrent fair, Better Living Expo, will be held 22-24 July, at AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE). Free shuttle bus service will run between the HKCEC, Tsing Yi, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and AWE.

Fair Website: www.hkbookfair.com/en

Fair Hours
20-21 July (Wednesday-Thursday) 10am-10pm
22-23 July (Friday-Saturday) 10am-midnight
24-25 July (Sunday-Monday) 10am-10pm
26 July (Tuesday) 9am-5pm

Admission (open to the public; by ticket only)
Adults: HK$25 (includes admission to “Art Gallery”)
Children: HK$10 (for children under 1.22m tall/primary school students)
Morning admission (before noon): HK$10 (tickets for sale at fairground only)
Free admission for children under three and adults over 65
Tourists: HK$10 (must present travel document/visa)
Super Pass: HK$80, offering unlimited entry to the fair; available from now to 19 July

Media Enquiries
Please contact the HKTDC's Corporate Communication Department:

Joe Kainz
Tel: (852) 2584 4216
Email: joe.kainz@hktdc.org

About the HKTDC
A statutory body established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and service providers. With more than 40 global offices, including 11 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China and throughout Asia. The HKTDC also organises trade fairs and business missions to connect companies with opportunities in Hong Kong and on the mainland, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and online. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com

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