The newest edition of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF) kicks off on Saturday. Begun in 2001, the annual festival has been serving the all-important purpose of creating a bridge between Hong Kong's bibliophiles and writers from around the world. Getting to meet authors in person is especially significant at a time when Chat-GPT and machine learning seem to have captured popular imagination.

High-profile authors Alka Joshi, best known for her trilogy of novels set in Jaipur, India; Booker-winner Bernardine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other); Japanese writer Asako Yuzuki (Butter) and Australian Madeleine Gray (Green Dot) headline HKILF 2025. The program also includes panels and workshops touching on subjects ranging from the impact of artificial intelligence on the creative process, to the power of speculative fiction and the future of publishing.

From the outset, HKILF has cultivated an appreciation for all manner of written words and actively supports platforms and publishers nurturing the next generations of wordsmiths. In Hong Kong, there are multiple literary collectives that help budding writers to hone their craft and receive peer support and professional wisdom while they are at it. Most such groups host monthly live readings where writers share new works with an audience — a crucial aspect of most storytelling traditions.

Poetry as performance

As in previous years, HKILF 2025 is hosting a raft of performance-based events that tap into the oral and communal roots of writing. The participating outfits include Hong Kong Stories (Top Notch, March 1), Peel Street Poetry (Future Expressions, March 6), and OutLoud (Poetry Night: Into the Future, March 5).

The performances dovetail with the festival's history of featuring interactive walks and tours linked to books. As HKILF Executive Director Laura Mannering says, "If you have a book about food or photography, that's a great reason to get out and explore that topic, just as the author may have done whilst researching and writing it."

Though they fly somewhat under the radar, over the last decade Hong Kong Stories has been hosting performances of original stories every month. On its website, the organization states, "We are the only group dedicated to the art of true, first-person storytelling in Hong Kong."

Perhaps more heavily associated with live performance, OutLoud and Peel Street Poetry can take credit for their contributions to enriching Hong Kong's vibrant poetry scene, and providing a gateway to a literary form often perceived as inaccessible. Founded in 1998, OutLoud is the city's most high-profile as well as longest running English-language poetry collective. Into the Future will feature local and overseas poets, including Polish Krystyna Dabrowska and Aigerim Tazhi from Kazakhstan.

Peel Street Poetry, now in its 20th year, is renowned for its poetry slams and open mic nights, besides themed events, book launches, and all sorts of artistic collaborations that help grow the city's spoken-word scene. Mannering says that listening to poems and stories written by fellow Hong Kong residents can be a "powerful way to connect with each other".

"Poetry and spoken-word events bring a heartbeat to the city that is enduring," she adds.

Community matters

For those audience members inspired enough to take the proverbial pen to paper, the presence of boutique English-language publishers — such as Blacksmith Books and Proverse Publishing — and more importantly, peer groups and platforms at the festival can be reassuring. The results of their year-round activities can be sampled at the launches of Hong Kong Writers Circle 20th Anthology on March 2 and Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society's Imprint 23: Women's Voices (March 5), as well as at a talk with Sunset at Lion Rock author Matthew Wong Foreman (March 1).

"We have talent in Hong Kong, but they are scattered everywhere," says Hong Kong Writers Circle Chairperson Wilson Li. "The Circle provides a platform for English-speaking writers to support each other on their writing journey."

Writers Circle has been nurturing writers of fiction, non-fiction, drama, film and poems since 1991. This is done mainly through sharing knowledge of both the writing process and the publishing industry — via workshops, critiquing sessions and reading groups. The group launched its quarterly literary journal, The Apostrophe, in 2023.

Li mentions that Writers Circle "offers peer support and reviews to every member to help them publish their stories".

In step with Writers Circle is Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society (HK WiPS), established in 1990. The group meets regularly, bringing all fields of writing together for workshops, discussion, idea-sharing and mentoring.

"Being a writer is a lonely business, so grassroots groups like HK WiPS are an invaluable source of support," says a spokesperson for the WiPS Committee. "Hong Kong is small. So being part of a literary society means that you have immediate access to a network of like-minded people who may be able to connect you with others in publishing. It has always been and will be a challenge to get one's work out there, but being part of a supportive literary community is a great starting point."

The specter of AI

One of the many challenges faced by a writer today is the haunting specter of AI doing a better job of the task in front of them. Besides, in Hong Kong, many emerging authors aspiring to write in English do not always have access to guidance or resources to help hone their language skills.

However, Mannering is confident that the city's writers' groups will always be a critical part of the process. "As a member of the writing community in Hong Kong, I don't foresee AI becoming as powerful as my human community of writers and storytellers anytime soon," she says. "There is a lot of nuance in language, and having a supportive network that you can trust for feedback and critique is essential."

She adds that the hallmark of good writing lies in the deft handling of how "the human experience transfers through the pages".

"Writers hold each other up, wipe each other's tears. They cheer each other across the finish line ... and sometimes tell you that your favorite character or story plot needs to die, in order for your story to make any sense. Maybe AI will do that someday, but I like my literary friends. They have good writerly advice," Mannering says.

Recognition for new writing

While the stigma associated with self-publishing has waned somewhat in recent years, there's nothing to beat the joy of signing up with a known publishing brand. The annual Proverse Prize for an unpublished book-length work is Hong Kong's only international literary prize. Awarded by the local boutique publisher Proverse, the prize comes with a modest cash award and, perhaps more crucially, publication.

Wong, who won the award in 2023, says, "I definitely think awards like the Proverse Prize are essential for writers, not just to get their work in front of readers, but to build confidence in the possibility that their work matters, that writers matter.

"I think there's still — and always will be — a hunger for the kind of connection that only books can provide. For me, the warm, fuzzy, almost indescribable feeling of intimacy that you get from reading long-form content - as if the author is standing beside you, watching and waiting — can't be replicated by (Facebook) Reels or shorts. I think it's vital that prizes and awards like Proverse continue to exist, and are protected at all costs."

IF YOU GO

Hong Kong international literary Festival 2025

Dates: March 1-8

Venue: Various venues

www.festival.org.hk