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The Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF) announces highlight programmes for their 21^st Festival, entitled the Rebound Edition. Hong Kong’s premier literary event will return from 5^th to 15^th November, with the main festival weekend taking place over four days from 11^th to 14^th November at venues including Asia Society, The Fringe Club, and Tai Kwun.

This year’s edition will focus on themes of resilience, recovery and mental health, with an emphasis on new fiction and the joy of reading. Headline speakers will include best-selling and award-winning authors Amor Towles, Paula Hawkins, Damon Galgut and Karen McManus, as well as some of the most exciting emerging and established talents from Hong Kong.

“Our 21^st edition aims to inspire the joy of reading with something to interest book lovers of all kinds,” says Festival Director, Catherine Platt. “Hong Kong’s many avid readers will not want to miss Amor Towles, author of A Gentleman in Moscow, speaking about his new novel The Lincoln Highway; Girl on a Train author Paula Hawkins on her latest thriller, A Slow Fire Burning; or South African author Damon Galgut’s Booker-prize short-listed novel, The Promise. From world-class fiction to new books exploring mental health and wellness, festival goers will be spoilt for choice with a packed weekend of hybrid events, including live-streamed authors, as well as in-person panel discussions, readings, workshops and walking tours that highlight local talent.”

At the same time, to promote the best Hong Kong writings, the Festival will act as a platform for discovery of the latest works by local authors. Uncovering compelling new works of fiction as well as delving into Hong Kong’s history and heritage, the 21st edition will feature stand-out Hong Kong fiction from Kit Fan, Naoise Dolan, Pik-Shuen Fung, Hannah Bent, and Larry Feign, and readings by emerging writers Alice Chan, Virginia Ng and Angus Lee.

Further events include cartoonist Harry Harrison and comedian Vivek Mahbubani discussing their life’s work making people laugh, a panel on the mental health impact of Hong Kong’s 21 day quarantine and Hong Kong-based wine expert Jeannie Cho Lee, who invites us to slow down and relax with a good Burgundy. Hong Kong poet Mary Jean Chan, winner of the 2019 Costa Book Award for Poetry, will be the featured poet in this year’s school’s poetry contest, which will close out the festival with readings from student winners and international poets.

Further details of featured authors and books will be released over the coming weeks, with the full programme available in late September. Visit festival.org.hk for more information about HKILF and this year’s festival.