To understand China and its relations with the outside world, one needs to understand its environment. With filthy water, choking emissions and an unsustainable appetite for resources, China's development has pushed our planet to the limits and intensified international competition for scarce resources. Jonathan Watts, author of a new book When A Billion Chinese Jump considers three questions: "Why history and geography are conspiring against China?", "Where are ecological walls likely to block growth and increase stress with other nations?" and "Whether scientific development and a focus on renewable energy can turn red China green?". This is a pre-festival event co-presented by the Royal Geographical Society.

Cost: $130.00

Start International Women's Day 2011 in the company of three outstanding authors: Deborah Baker from the US, Suchen Christine Lim of Singapore, and Hong Kong's own Christine Loh. Engage with them as they discuss what it means to be a woman and a woman writer today, 100 years after International Women's Day was first established in protest against working conditions for women in rapidly growing industrial economies. What have women gained, what have they lost and what remains to be done? Moderated by RTHK's Sarah Passmore. Ticket price includes breakfast. Ms Baker's trip is supported by Jet Airways. Ms Suchen Christine Lim's visit is supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore. This event is sponsored by Hogan Lovells.

Cost: $300.00

A former investment banker with a PhD from the University of Hong Kong, Financial Times columnist Mrs Moneypenny is a working mother of three who runs a business in London, and writes a column which appears every week in the FT Weekend Magazine. She is the author of Mrs Moneypenny: Survival in the City (2003), Mrs Moneypenny: Email from Tokyo (2006) and Mrs Moneypenny: Credit Crunch (2009). Come and and listen to her talk about her experiences of writing and performing her own one woman show. An Audience with Mrs Moneypenny in New York and At Home With Mrs Moneypenny in Scotland sold out before it even opened at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2010Ticket price includes buffet lunch. Mrs. Moneypenny's appearance is courtesy of the Financial Times.

Cost: $450.00

She received a request from the Free Community Church, one of the few places open to gay and straight worshippers in a city-state where homosexual sex can still lead to prison time. A tough challenge indeed and the result was The Morning After, the story of a young man telling his mother he's gay. Since then, Suchen Christine Lim has written other books including The Lies That Build A Marriage, a collection of short stories that deals with homosexuality, cross-dressing, adultery and prostitution, all in a Singaporean context. Hear Lim discuss these stories and the "unsung, unsaid and uncelebrated in Singapore". Moderated by Hugh Chiverton. Ms Lim's visit is supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore.This event is sponsorsed by Dim Sum & then some

Cost: $250.00

Come and celebrate the opening of the 2011 Festival, and of our second decade. Get your literary taste buds to work as we begin a 10-day banquet of delicious literary pleasures, with writers and readers getting together to cook up mouth-watering moments and intoxicating encounters. Enjoy! This is a free event but requires registration. Email info@festival.org.hk by 1 March 2011. Priority for Friends of the Festival.

Cost: Free with registration

Travelling the length and breadth of the country and drawing on more than 200 interviews with senior politicians, scientists, businessmen and individuals, Jonathan Watts, Asia Environment Correspondent for The Guardian, takes a down and dirty look at China's ecological challenges and a bird's eye perspective on why they are different from anything experienced by other countries during a similar stage of development. Ticket price includes a 3-course lunch.

Cost: $480.00

Two books being published this year offer, in different ways, a counter argument to the notion of a “clash of civilisations” between Islam and the rest of the world. In The Perfumed Palace: Islam's Journey from Mecca to Peking, Michael Aldrich has traced the long history of the Muslims of China's capital city who, over twelve centuries, have developed a harmonious synthesis of two great civilizations. The Convert by Deborah Baker is the story of Maryam Jameelah, an American woman who became a militant voice in Islam’s argument with the West, but whose letters home to her Jewish parents belie any possibility of dividing the world neatly in two. Moderated by Stephen McCarty, Editor-in-Chief of the Asia Literary Review. Ms. Baker is brought to you by Jet Airways. Mr Aldrich's appearance is courtesy of Hogan Lovells

Cost: $130.00

Rupert Chan's story told from his toy poodle Chocolate's point of view will be launched at this event. Chan will talk about Chocolate's autobiography and other animals in literature. Moderated by Gillian Bickley. Also at this event, co-founder of the Proverse Prize for unpublished writing, Verner Bickley, will announce the Proverse Prize winner(s) (2010). Ticket price includes canapés served from 7 to 7.30pm. This is an independent event hosted by Proverse Hong Kong. For information regarding the event, please call [INT+852] 22593456 or visit proversepublishing.com.

Cost: $300.00

Arriving in China as a volunteer teacher with the Peace Corps, he eventually spent more than a decade in the country, writing about his experiences in three books: River Town, Oracle Bones and his new book, Country Driving. For Country Driving, Peter Hessler started a 7,000-mile road trip in a jeep, following small roads along the path of the Great Wall. Along the way he picked up hitchhikers — farmers on their way to market, truckers whose rigs had broken down and dozens of young people who were in the process of migrating to the cities for work. Join Hessler as he describes how this journey gave him a new perspective on rural China and the way it’s being changed by the nation’s rapid development. Mr. Hessler is supported by the U.S. Consulate. Co-presented by Royal Geographical Society.

Cost: $130.00

Using a very different approach from traditional journalism, Leslie T. Chang followed the two main characters in her book around for three years, getting to know them and watching what happened to them in real time. The result was Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China (2008) which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2008 and also received the PEN USA Literary Award and the Asian American Literary Award. Hear her talk about this unconventional approach to writing. Moderated by Justin Hill. Ticket price includes coffee and cookies.

Cost: $230.00

Written as five essays that are loosely themed around the Five Pillars of Islam, Michael Aldrich, author of The Perfumed Palace: Islam's Journey from Mecca to Peking explores the life and culture of the Muslims of China's capital city who, over the centuries, have developed a harmonious synthesis of two great civilizations. In his session, Mr. Aldrich will present a lecture along with selected readings from The Perfumed Palace, accompanied by photographs taken from the book to illustrate the lives and history of Beijing's ethnic Chinese Muslim community. Mr Aldrich's appearance is courtesy of Hogan Lovells

Cost: $130.00

Wena Poon discusses French literature, Hong Kong cinema, and Wong Kar Wai in her cinematic tribute to the cosmopolitan - the Singapore Literature Prize-shortlisted fiction collection The Proper Care of Foxes, which challenges every stereotype about Asian literature in English.

Cost: $130.00

As part of its 100th anniversary celebrations in 2011-2012, the University of Hong Kong is hosting a series of Centenary Distinguished Lectures which aims to bring some of the most brilliant minds of today to the University. Andrew Motion is an English poet, novelist and biographer, who presided as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009. His new book Laurels and Donkeys (November 2010) is a sequence of war poems referring to 20th- and 21st-century conflicts that have involved British forces. He has been Chairman of the Arts Council of England's Literature Panel since 1996. He was knighted in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours list. The Lecture will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Andrew Motion; Joyshan Lam-Kung, Freelance Writer; Leung Ping-kwan, Poet and Critic, Lingnan University; and Christine Loh, CEO of Civic Exchange. The discussion will be moderated by Douglas Kerr, School of English, The University of Hong Kong. BOOKING STARTS on 17 at HKU website

Cost: Free with registration

Festival Poetry displayed and devoured, for discussion, delectation and delight. Join Arvind Mehrotra, Susan Scarlata, LK Holt and Eddie Tay in conversation with Andy Barker. Mr. Mehrotra is brought to you by Jet Airways.

Cost: $130.00

Jonathan Watts, author of When a Billion Chinese Jump, and Peter Hessler, author of Country Driving, in conversation with Frank Ching, Hong Kong based writer and commentator, share their experience of reporting and interpreting China today. All three are journalists and also book authors. What are the pitfalls, shortfalls, joys and frustrations of China correspondence? How hard is it to access information in China today, to assess it, and to publish it? How do the working methods of the daily news beat differ from researching and planning a book? And what sort of impact can a correspondent's work have, on China's government and people, and on the way the country is seen by the rest of the world? In this session, three hacks talk about the splendours and miseries of their craft. Ticket price includes dinner. This event is co-presented by Asia Society.

Cost: $500.00

'Between 1958 and 1962, China descended into hell. Mao Zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to catch up and overtake Britain in less than 15 years. The experiment ended in the greatest catastrophe the country had ever known, destroying tens of millions of lives.' So writes Frank Dikötter in the opening lines of his book Mao's Great Famine. Join him as he reveals how he gained access to previously restricted documents and his astonishing chronicle of what went on during those horrific years. Ticket price includes lunch.

Cost: $500.00

Andrew Motion, for ten years the Poet Laureate in the UK, talks with Douglas Kerr, Professor of English at the University of Hong Kong, about poets and poetry. And more than that, about the laureateship, writing and politics, how to write and publish and teach poetry as well. Listen too as he reads from his most recent collections of poems, The Cinder Path and Laurels and Donkeys. Sir Andrew's appearance is courtesy of the University of Hong Kong.

Cost: $150.00

An Irish-born playwright, literary historian and novelist, Emma Donoghue has won numerous awards since 1997. She is a five-time finalist in the Lambda Awards and her stories have been published in Granta, the Sunday Express, Mail on Sunday, the Globe as well as 30 other journals and anthologies. Her latest book, Room (2010), about a boy and his mother who live in a locked room that measures eleven foot by eleven, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She has earned her living as a writer since the age of 23 and says that "I have been lucky enough to never have an 'honest job' since I was sacked for a month as a chambermaid." Moderated by RTHK's Sarah Passmore. Ticket price includes canapés served from 7 to 7.30pm. Ms. Donoghue's appearance is courtesy of the Ireland Literature Exchange and Embassy of Ireland.

Cost: $300.00

As a China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, she specialised in stories that explored how socioeconomic change is transforming institutions and individuals. Then she wrote Factory Girls, which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2008, as well as one of the best books of the year by various publications including The Washington Post and Business Week. Factory Girls also received the 2009 PEN USA Literary Award for Research Nonfiction and the Asian American Literary Award For Nonfiction. Hear Leslie T. Chang discuss her book and how her own family's migration provided a personal frame of reference for her investigation. Co-presented by Royal Geographical Society

Cost: $130.00

Visiting and local poets read their own and others' work in a sticky, noisy and unpredictable mix, ring-mistressed by Viki Holmes. Ticket price includes a $30 drinks voucher redeemable at the door.

Cost: $50.00

Being a writer is not just about writing. It's about being published too. Find out how the publishing industry works and how to prepare submissions. Learn about contracts and agents, manuscript assessments and the value of writers' groups and networking. Learn about the many and varied opportunities that exist for young writers to start getting published now. Join Aleesah Darlison if you’re looking for somewhere to start your writing career. Suitable for students aged 15 and above and young adults.

Cost: $100.00

His first novel, In Beautiful Disguises, won a Betty Trask Prize before it was published. He himself won the Clarissa Luard Fiction Award for the Best British Writer under the age of 35 and this, his second novel, is based on the Ian St James-award winning story of the same title. The Dreamer is a mind-bending portrait of post-traumatic breakdown, and a timely critique of British society. Most of all, it is a love story that unites two protagonists Shashi and Lisha not only across time and space but across death itself. Rajeev Balasubramanyam discusses The Dreamer and its insights into celebrity, racism and contemporary Britain.

Cost: $130.00

Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author Amitav Ghosh isn’t afraid of a challenge: Indian post-colonialism, opium wars, Egyptian culture, fundamentalism and the history of fiction are a handful of the expansive issues to have tumbled before his mighty pen. He joins Stephen McCarty, Editor-in-Chief of Hong Kong’s Asia Literary Review, in conversation about life, the universe and everything.

Cost: $130.00

Soon-to-be released, The Convert has been described as "an astonishing book that reads like a detective story but is also a work of enormous beauty and understanding.... The Convert is the most brilliant and moving book written about Islam and the West since 9/11". In this session, get the inside scoop on Deborah Baker's book about a young Jewish woman from New York who embraced a life of exile in Pakistan. Friends of the Festival will receive an autographed book when it's released in March. Please retain your ticket and email info@festival.org.hk to arrange collection of the book. Ms. Baker's trip is supported by Jet Airways.

Cost: $130.00

Darley Anderson is a top literary agent in the UK. Marysia Juszczakiewicz runs one of Asia's largest literary agencies outside of Japan. Constance Briscoe is one of Anderson's clients and a bestselling autobiographer whose book Ugly spent twenty weeks in the UK bestseller list. So how important is a literary agent? Is it the agent or the writer that makes a bestseller?

Cost: $150.00

Reading to young children is an important part of their learning and development. And what better way to introduce children to the joy of storytelling than by meeting a real author? In this intimate session, children’s author, Aleesah Darlison, reads from her books and brings the stories to life with toys and soft puppets. The session finishes with a fun colouring-in activity. For parents and children 3 to 5 years. Ticket price is for one child and one adult and includes drinks and snacks.

Cost: $350.00

Start your Sunday with a treat in the company of three engaging writers guaranteed to take you places: distinguished poet and literary critic Arvind Mehrotra, who holds the keys to understanding the treasure trove of Indian verse; novelist Meira Chand, with her multicultural understanding of the nature of the outsider; and Amitav Ghosh, nominated, decorated and widely appreciated for his fiction and journalism. You may find yourself aloft under a different sky, or happily adrift on a sea of poppies …Moderated by Stephen McCarty, Editor-in-Chief of the Asia Literary Review. Ticket price includes morning coffee and snacks. Mr. Mehrotra and Mr. Ghosh are brought to you by Jet Airways. Ms Chand's appearance is with the assistance of the National Arts Council, Singapore.

Cost: $300.00

It is Hong Kong in the near future. A unique school has a secret and dangerous agenda for its students. Three students try to uncover the truth but violence and even murder follow in their tracks. Adrian Tilley will discuss his new novel, The Damaged, (the follow-up to The Spider's Web). Kids, here's your chance to venture out alone and discover the world out there. This session is suitable for kids aged 12 and above. Ticket price includes coffee/tea and dim sum.

Cost: $180.00

The author of the acclaimed The Glass Palace and The Shadow Lines is one of India's best known writers. Hear him talk about his trilogy of novels, set at the time of the first Opium War, which began with Sea of Poppies. Moderated by Stephen McCarty, Editor-in-Chief of Asia Literary Review. Ticket price includes lunch. Mr. Ghosh's trip is supported by Jet Airways.

SOLD OUT

Cost: $500.00

In early 2008, he completed his second novel, award winning Jasper Jones which has become a hit around the globe. Whether you are into suspense or romance, a fan of Huckleberry Finn or To Kill A Mockingbird, Jasper Jones is a cross-over book that will appeal to teenagers and adults alike. Enjoy an afternoon with Australia's Mark Twain, Craig Silvey, as he reads from his book and discusses the themes that prevail. Ticket price includes coffee and canapes. Mr. Silvey's appearance is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australian Council for the Arts, it's arts funding advisory body.

Cost: $250.00

Her diary of her life on the streets since 14, published as Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid in 1989, was a critical and commercial success and a bestseller. It was made into a CBC movie called The Diary of Evelyn Lau in 1994. Evelyn Lau talks to RHTK's Sarah Passmore about how life has changed since her days on the streets. Ticket price includes coffee and snacks. Ms. Lau's apprearance is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada. Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a investi 20,1 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans les lettres et l'édition à travers le Canada.

Cost: $250.00

Listen to gems from a treasury of stories about the old British Empire. Burma under Prime Minister U Nu. The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny in 1945; the burning of the new British Embassy building in Jakarta in 1963 and encounters with such as the former Governor of Singapore, Sir Franklin Gimson. Listen to Verner Bickley, ex-British Naval Officer, and Colonial Servant and author of Footfalls Echo in the Memory, tell his tales of an era gone by. Price includes coffee and dim sum.

Cost: $300.00

Festival headliners share the freedom of poetry next to the prison cells of the Mariners' Rest. Benjamin Zephaniah, well-known British dub poet, listed in The Times' top 50 post-war writers in 2008; Arvind Mehrotra, distinguished Indian poet and recent candidate for Oxford Professor of Poetry; and Evelyn Lau, Canadian poet and novelist, read their poems and talk to Martin Alexander, poetry editor of the Asia Literary Review. Ticket price includes wine and canapés. Mr. Zephaniah's visit is in partnership with the British Council. Mr. Mehrotra is brought to you by Jet Airways. Ms Lau's appearance is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada. Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a investi 20,1 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans les lettres et l'édition à travers le Canada.

Cost: $380.00

Ugly (2006), her first book and an autobiography, is her story of overcoming a terrible start in life and reached number one in the UK bestseller lists. Beyond Ugly (2008) moves on to describe how her career began in law. Despite her mother's constant physical and phychological abuse, Constance Briscoe has triumphed to become one of Britain's first black female judges. RTHK's Sarah Passmore talks to her about her life, why she wrote her memoirs and the challenges she faced writing them. Ticket price includes wine and canapés.

Cost: $300.00

Xu Xi is author of seven books including Habit of a Foreign Sky, her latest. A finalist for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize, it is an examination of what happens when an intelligent, high-powered woman executive relinquishes all responsibilities. Rajeev Balasubramanyam has written two novels and his second The Dreamer is a mind-bending portrait of post-traumatic breakdown. A haunting narrative told mostly in the voice of its male protagonist, it is a meditation on what happens when a childhood love is lost. They join Manreet Sodhi Someshwar, Hong Kong based writer and novelist, in a discussion on love, loss and surviving through it all in a modern world. Ticket price includes Chinese canapés and wine. Xu Xi's appearance is courtesy of CityU where she is the full-time writer-in-residence.

Cost: $300.00

Festival headliners share the freedom of poetry next to the prison cells of the Mariners' Rest. Benjamin Zephaniah, well-known British dub poet, listed in The Times' top 50 post-war writers in 2008; Arvind Mehrotra, distinguished Indian poet and recent candidate for Oxford Professor of Poetry; and Evelyn Lau, Canadian poet and novelist, read their poems and talk to Martin Alexander, poetry editor of the Asia Literary Review. Ticket price includes wine and canapés. Mr. Zephaniah's visit is in partnership with the British Council. Mr. Mehrotra is brought to you by Jet Airways. Ms Lau's appearance is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada. Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a investi 20,1 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans les lettres et l'édition à travers le Canada.

Cost: $380.00

Beginning in Singapore's first communist riot and set against the years before the colony achieved full independence, here is the story of three families representing multicultural Singapore, caught up in tumultuous times. As the years pass, Singapore falls to the Japanese. While suffering the agonies of Occupation, the three are thrown together in unexpected ways, and tested to breaking point. Meira Chand talks about her book A Different Sky and how her own cultural hybridity is reflected in her novel. She will join Manreet Sodhi Someshwar, Hong Kong based writer and novelist, in the discussion. Ticket price includes coffee and cookies. Ms Chand's appearance is with the asisstance of the National Arts Council of Singapore.

Cost: $230.00

Author of more than a dozen books, Hilary Spurling is a journalist and writer best known for her biographies. Her subjects have included Sonia Orwell and the novelists Ivy Compton-Burnett and Paul Scott. Her acclaimed two-volume life of the painter Henri Matisse won the Whitbread Prize for biography in 2006. In her new book, Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China, she has turned to the Nobel Prize-winning American novelist, born and raised in China, whose trilogy starting with the best-selling The Good Earth (1931) depicted the harsh life of peasants in a Chinese village. Pearl Buck was a friend of China, but her work is controversial: how well did she know China really? Moderated by Angharad Law, radio reporter and print journalist who has also produced programmes about Arts and Culture for the BBC in London. Ticket price includes a 3-course lunch. The Festival presents this event in partnership with the British Counci and Dymocks.

Cost: $480.00

He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (14 times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries). With his latest book Only Time Will Tell just launched, Jeffrey Archer discusses his writing, sports and his colourful life with RTHK's Hugh Chiverton. Ticket price includes high tea. This event is co-presented by Dymocks.

Cost: $280.00

Described as a dramatic reader, Hiromi Goto, whose first novel received the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book in the Caribbean and Canada region, takes you into an Underworld that seethes, trapped, in torturous suffering. Into this realm enters a humble mortal girl, in search of her mother. Half World, is about a girl growing into her self, as a young woman, without having any magical power. It is also about despair and hope and the tenacity to endure and survive. Be captivated as you are brought into another world altogether. Ms Goto's apprearance is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada. Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a investi 20,1 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans les lettres et l'édition à travers le Canada.

Cost: $130.00

Meet two Australian writers and listen as they read from and talk about their books. Brian Castro, one of Australia's most lauded writers and winner of nearly every Australian prize there is, reads from his latest book The Bath Fugues, which takes the form of three interwoven novellas. His first novel Rhubarb (2004) was chosen in 2005 as the "One Book" for the Perth International Writers' Festival. Craig Silvey reads from his latest book, Jasper Jones which is about outsiders and secrets, and what it really means to be a hero. Ticket price includes coffee and cake. Mr. Castro and Mr. Silvey appear with the Mr. Silvey's appearance is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australian Council for the Arts, its arts funding advisory body and the Australian Embassy Beijing.

Cost: $130.00

Founded in 1988, the Darley Anderson Literary Agency has a reputation for discovering new talent and turning that talent into big-time money. Always on the look out for new authors, Darley Anderson, top UK literary agent with clients such as Lee Child, John Connolly and Martina Cole, takes a little time out from his grueling schedule of book launches, publishing pitches and literary lunches to talk about the business of taking care of business. This session complements the Creative Writing Masterclass for aspiring writers by Hsu-Ming Teo. Ticket price includes coffee and canapés.

Cost: $130.00

He has written award-winning books and has served on the juries of several international film festivals, including Locarno and Venice. But what does he read? Does he have a favourite writer? Which author has inspired him the most? Hear it straight from Amitav Ghosh, one of India's best-known writers. A Q&A session follows at the end of this session. Mr. Ghosh is brought to you by Jet Airways.

Cost: $130.00

At the age of 19, he wrote his first novel Rhubarb. In 2007, Craig Silvey released The World According To Warren, a picture book. In 2008, he completed his second book, award winning novel, Jasper Jones which has taken the world by storm. Outside of literature, Silvey is the singer/songwriter for the band The Nancy Sikes! Amanda Hayes talks to Cleo Australia's Bachelor of the Year about his success and how his music has influenced his writing. Ticket price includes canapes and wine. Mr. Silvey's appearance is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australian Council for the Arts, it's arts funding advisory body.

Cost: $230.00

Love baking pastries but don't know how? About to give up because the dough always shrinks, or isn’t tender? One of America's top pastry chefs shares his secrets in making pastry. Nick Malgieri, former Executive Pastry Chef at Windows on the World and author of BAKE! and 9 other cookbooks including the James Beard winner How to Bake and the LACP/Julia Child Cookbook award-winner Chocolate, will show some easy and foolproof methods of preparing and rolling a flaky and a sweet pastry dough and a never-fail version of puff pastry. Here's the perfect opportunity to see how it's all done and ask questions that have not been answered before. Ticket price includes food sampling.

Cost: $180.00

What has prompted two medical doctors to write? Is it a labour of love? A way to express themselves or to de-stress perhaps? Tony Mok, a practising oncologist, Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and TV host, talks to Vincent Lam, emergency physician in Toronto whose debut book has been adapted into a television series for HBO Canada. Sharing links beyond medicine, this session also takes a look at their TV experience. Ticket price includes lunch. Dr. Lam's apprearance is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada. Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a investi 20,1 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans les lettres et l'édition à travers le Canada.

Cost: $400.00

Join an evening of conversations with renowned poets Louise Ho and Leung Ping-kwan, as we celebrate the winner of the inaugural HKU Poetry Prize, Kit Fan. Born and educated in Hong Kong, Kit Fan now lives in York. His poems are widely published in UK literary magazines such as Poetry Review, Poetry London, Poetry Wales, and The London Magazine and he won a Times Stephen Spender Prize for Translation in 2006. Kit Fan's book of poems, Paper Scissors Stone, will be released by Hong Kong University Press in 2011.
BOOKING STARTS on 17 at HKU website

Cost: Free with registration

Will the spread of global consumer brands and popular icons turn the planet into one big shopping mall at the expense of local culture? Or can a shared culture help promote common values and international understanding? Will America continue to be the dominant cultural power, or will emerging nations, such as China, soon be setting cultural trends internationally? To debate these and other questions, the Financial Times presents an evening featuring FT writers Lucy Kellaway, Jan Dalley, Peter Aspden and Simon Kuper. David Pilling, Asia editor, will moderate. There will be a cocktail reception followed by the debate at 6.45 pm.

Cost: $280.00

Her achievements include an O. Henry Prize story and first prize in the South China Morning Post story contest. The New York Times named her a pioneer English-language writer from Asia and the Voice of America featured her on their Chinese-language TV series ‘Cultural Odyssey’. Hear Xu Xi, author of Habit of a Foreign Sky, discuss and read from her latest book. Xu Xi's appearance is courtesy of CityU, where she is the full-time writer-in-residence.

Cost: $130.00

His book Shanghai Dancing (2003) won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction, and the Book of the Year. Told from an Australian perspective, it is loosely based on his family's life in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macau from the 1930s to the 1960s. Drawing on memory, stories, photos and family myths and secrets, the book is about the twists and turns of fiction and personal history. Brian Castro reveal what's fiction and what's real. Mr. Castro's visit is supported by the Australian Embassy Beijing.

Cost: $130.00

This is an intimate and intensive writing workshop for aspiring writers. After the session with Darley Anderson on how to be published successfully and make money, this session by Hsu-Ming Teo, a research fellow at the Department of Modern History, Macquarie University, and a judge for the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize, will focus on the challenges of purpose, genre, voice and craft. Bring your manuscripts along! Limited to a maximum of 20 participants.Ms Teo's appearance is courtesy of the Man Asian Literary Prize.

Cost: $450.00

Multi-award winning author and illustrator Sally Rippin writes for children of all ages from babies to young adults. Bring your young ones along and enjoy a session with her as she reads and shows how to draw a cheeky baby monkey to take home with. This session is suitable for parents and children aged 3 to 6. Price per parent/child pair.

Cost: $150.00

The Singapore-born American novelist Wena Poon talks about an impossible commission to write about Spanish bullfighting and how she produced a 21st century novel with a woman in the lead role. Alex y Robert was snapped up as a 10-episode show by BBC Radio 4 even before it was published: find out why. Moderated by Stephen McCarty, Editor-In-Chief of the Asia Literary Review. Ticket price includes lunch. This event is presented by the Asia Literary Review.

Cost: $400.00

He is one of America's leading bakers and has been writing cookbooks, baking and teaching baking and pastry for more than 30 years. His award-winning books include How to Bake and Chocolate. He has appeared on national morning shows and local television throughout the United States, as well as Food Network and Martha Stewart. Nick Malgieri talks about important questions facing authors of recipe books. Now that foreign foods are popular in almost every country, how is it possible to prepare an authentic dish thousands of miles from its country of origin? Susan Jung, Food and Wine Editor for the South China Morning Post, talks to Malgieri about these questions and more. Ticket price includes savoury canapes featured in BAKE!, Malgieri's latest book. This event is sponsored by The Press Room.

Cost: $230.00

His first Inspector Chen book, Death of a Red Heroine, was published in 2000 and hailed by critics from the U.S. to Europe. There have been six more Chen titles, translated in 23 languages. He next wrote Years of Red Dust, a non-detective book that is already a bestseller in France and Germany. Qiu Xiaolong sheds light on the history of Shanghai as he takes you through his book where the stories are consumed with China's national upheavals.

Cost: $130.00

When her husband was killed in East Timor in 1975, Shirley Shackleton was launched into an unexpected life as a human rights activist. Winner of the 2010 Walkley Non Fiction Book Award, Circle of Silence is a personal testimony of her search for truth and justice. She talks to Chris Warren about winning the Prize.

Cost: $130.00

Get into conversation with Jessica Rudd, author of Campaign Ruby, and Paul Kenny, ex-radio and print journalist and now Regional Sales & Marketing Manager of Pan Macmillan Asia. What do they think about the “Chick Lit” brand? Is it offensive? Is it snobbish? Too lighthearted to be taken seriously? What does the future hold for this genre from the publisher’s point of view? Moderated by Paul Kenny.Ms Rudd's appearance is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australian Council for the Arts, its arts funding advisory body. This event is co-presented by The Australian Chamber of Commerce.

Cost: $130.00

The Man Asian Literary Prize is given annually to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English. Previous winners are Jiang Rong, Wolf Totem, Miguel Syjuco, Ilustrado and Su Tong, The Boat to Redemption. This year, the Prize has attracted books published by highly acclaimed writers from across Asia. Hear the authors themselves read from the novels in the running for the 2010 Prize on the eve of the Prize announcement. The 2010 Shortlist are: Bi Feiyu, Three Sisters, Manu Joseph, Serious Men, Tabish Khair, The Thing About Thugs, Kenzaburo Oe, The Changeling and Yoko Ogawa, Hotel Iris. Ticket includes drinks. The Shortlisted Authors' appearance is courtesy of the Man Asian Literary Prize.

Cost: $250.00

Why has the historical novel become so popular recently? Can historical fiction be considered history? What does historical research entail? Julian Lees, author of The Fan Tan Players, and Hsu-Ming Teo, author of Behind the Moon (2005), share their views and experience. Moderated by Justin Hill, poet and award-winning author.

Cost: $150.00

His book, Small Acts of Resistance, has been described as "a book that shows how to poke your tongue out at tyrants without having it cut off". Its supporters include Shirin Ebadi, Nobel-Prize-winning Iranian activist and lawyer, and Mia Farrow, actress and campaigner. It celebrates the inspiring ingenuity and awe-inspiring courage of the human spirit and pays tribute to those who have the courage to stand up and say "no". As an advocator of human rights, Steve Crawshaw of Amnesty International discusses how small acts of courage, mischief and imagination can make a big difference in changing the world.

Cost: $130.00

Two of the planet’s most widely published Asian crime writers, Qiu Xiaolong and Nury Vittachi, reveal why the public have an insatiable appetite for danger and death. Qiu’s acclaimed Inspector Chen series, set in Shanghai, was described as “a matchless pearl” by National Public Radio (US). Vittachi’s comedy-crime series The Feng Shui Detective was described as “an unsurpassable mixture of humor, wisdom and whodunnit” by The Crime Forum. But what do these two mild-mannered Asians know about murder, robbery and rape? How do Asian crime stories differ from Western ones? And who will be next to die? An unmissable session.

Cost: $150.00

In Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, Vincent Lam holds in delicate and skilful tension black humour, investigations of both common and extraordinary moral dilemmas, and a sometimes shockingly realistic and matter-of-fact portrait for today's medical profession. This book became the first debut work to win Canada's most prestigious prize for literary fiction, the Scotiabank Giller Prize. It has been adapted into a television series for HBO Canada. Hear Vincent Lam, emergency physician in Toronto, talk about his book and the link between storywriting and medicine. Dr. Lam's appearance is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada. Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a investi 20,1 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans les lettres et l'édition à travers le Canada.

Cost: $130.00

The background to her first novel, Campaign Ruby, is a general election in Australia. Writing with her inside knowledge of politics in Australia, political blueblood Jessica Rudd talks to Douglas Kerr, Professor of English at the University of Hong Kong, about getting started as a novelist and about the combination of politics and chick-lit that has made Campaign Ruby a runaway success. Discover how art can imitate and even anticipate what happens in life. Ms Rudd's appearance is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australian Council for the Arts, its arts funding advisory body. This event is co-presented by The Australian Chamber of Commerce. The event is sponsorsed by The Press Room

Cost: $380.00

And now, the end is here…sadly. As our literary feast comes to an end, it's time to celebrate what's been achieved, and to toast the future. Come to the party and join the writers and readers and everyone who has made this Festival a reality - Festival staff and volunteers, sponsors and Friends of the Festival. Look back on our 2011 Festival, and whet your appetite for the next one. This is a free event that requires registration. Email info@festival.org.hk by 11 March 2011. Priority is given to Friends of the Festival. This event is sponsored by The Pawn.

Cost: Free with registration