Launch of HKBU International Writers Workshop 2012

Friday was the launch of the HKBU International Writers Workshop 2012 (see my previous post) held at Nan Lian Garden. The 8 visiting writers were first taken on a tour of the garden and nunnery, all recently renovated in Tang dynasty style.

Visiting Writers (L to R): Meena Kandasamy (India), Ouyang Janghe (China), Egoyan Zheng (Taiwan), Bina Shah (Pakistan), me, Nguyen Phan Que Mai (Vietnam), Pilar Quintana (Columbia), Ajit Baral (Nepal)
A welcome reception and readings by the 8 IWW visiting writers followed the tour, held in a hall within the garden.

We were then taken to a restaurant high above the harbor for an amazing meal (and view) with the HKBU president, various faculty of the university, editors from the Asia Literary Review, fiction writers, poets and others . . . and featuring this amazing dessert.
Saturday I discovered nearby Kowloon Tsai Park where I'm now running every day--I love the dance, tai chi, sword play, calisthenics, and you name it taking place all around me. And in the afternoon I worked in the library. What a joy to have access to a library with a large English-language literature collection. Saturday evening the writers were invited to join the MFA programs of City University of Hong Kong for some faculty readings followed by dinner with all the residency faculty and program director Xu Xi.

And Sunday was a free day, so Vietnam poet Nguyen Phan Que Mai and I did some exploring.

First to the Peak . . .
And then down the Old Peak Road through the Botanic Gardens, onto Hollywood Road through an indoor market and up and down lanes until we found a dim sum restaurant.





And then onto a double-decker tram and off again at Central, through the throngs of Filipinas relaxing on their day off work, to the Classic Car Show where we caught up with poet and car man David McKirdy...who made our day.



From there were took the Star Ferry across the harbor.
And made our way through the crowds
and caught the trains back to Kowloon Tong and to our rooms at the university--and a dinner of leftover dim sum. What a long, fulfilling day!
Today I met up with with a Japanese poet in the City U of Hong Kong MFA program, and in the afternoon 6 of us visiting IWW writers gave talks on "Life in the Metropolis" and how it shapes our writing for HKBU students. Tomorrow is a national holiday--and I'm looking foward to more exploring followed by writing. And of course, reading from the nice stack of poetry books I've borrowed from the library.