Club Event: “Hong Kong 20/20: Reflections On A Borrowed Place” A PEN Hong Kong Anthology

What would it mean for Hong Kong to write itself? Twenty years after the Handover, some of the most prominent and creative literary and artistic minds in the city have come together to write Hong Kong in their own words. Come and hear the following speakers read from their own contributions to the PEN Hong Kong anthology:

Louisa Lim is an award-winning journalist who reported from China for a decade for NPR and the BBC. Lim  takes a delightfully raw look at growing up in Hong Kong with a Chinese father and a ‘posh’ British mum.

Joshua Wong is the Secretary-General and co-founder of political party Demosistō. He was a principal organiser of the Umbrella Movement. In his essay, Wong talks about his coming of age as a student activist, the historic importance of the Umbrella Movement and his dream of leaving Hong Kong a better place for his children.

Kris Cheng is the Editorial Director of Hong Kong Free Press. His essay is a poignant take on a father and son searching for identity and coming to terms with their political differences.

Marco Yan and Nicholas Wong. Yan is a poet who earned his MFA degrees from New York University and HKU. Wong is the author of Crevasse, the winner of the 28th Lambda Literary Award in Gay Poetry.

Ilaria Maria Sala is an award winning journalist and writer who has lived in East Asia since 1988. Her piece is a fictionalized account of redevelopment on Lantau island and the destruction of memory and beauty.

Larry Feign is a writer and artist whose work was blacklisted for several years straddling the Handover, after a high-profile episode of political censorship. His cartoons offer a painfully honest take on Hong Kong history.

PEN Hong Kong was established in 2016 to bring together writers, editors, publishers, booksellers, translators, journalists, academics and others working to celebrate and promote literature and creative expression.