Festival Schedule
All events cost 30 RMB other than the workshops and the literary dinner. Please see the reverse of each ticket for our full ticket policy.
Click on each day to see full schedule*
*Please note that not all events are listed in the calendar overview. Click More to see full listing.
Friday6th |
Saturday7th |
Sunday8th |
Monday9th |
Tuesday10th |
Wednesday11th |
Thursday12th |
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Committing Journalism with Ian Buruma, Paul French and Duncan Hewitt |
Savoring Sichuan: an evening of food talk with Fuchsia Dunlop |
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Friday13th |
Saturday14th |
Sunday15th |
Monday16th |
Tuesday17th |
Wednesday18th |
Thursday19th |
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Writing workshop with Rabih Alameddine / Venue: The Bookworm on the Bridge (PJ) |
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Blake Morrison writing workshop / Venue: Bookworm on the Bridge (PJ) |
And when did you last see your father? - In Conversation with Blake Morrison |
Friday20th |
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Friday 6th March 7:30pm Festival Opening Night - In Celebration of Literature Come join The Suzhou Bookworm start off its second International Literary Festival with a combination of music, drinks and readings from a selection of our festival authors. Prepare for literary karma!
Saturday 7th March 2.00-3.30pm Committing Journalism with Ian Buruma, Paul French and Duncan Hewitt Now a staple of The Bookworm International Literary Festival programme, our popular Committing Journalism event is back for 2009! Join our authors as they discuss the challenges of reporting on Asia.
Saturday 7th March 7.30pm Book Launch: China Underground with Zachary Mexico Zachary Mexico started studying Chinese at age fifteen and first travelled to China a year later. He plays in rock group The Octagon and the electronic duo Gates of Heaven. He lives in Chinatown, in New York City. In China Underground, Mexico takes a look at China’s up and coming generation. Characters ranging from a wannabe rockstar from Xinjiang to a Chinese mafia kingpin, Mexico’s first book breaks down a generation to it’s seemingly unrelated parts and begs the question where is New China headed.
Sunday 8th March 6pm The China Lover, in conversation with Ian Buruma Ian Buruma is a novelist, political commentator and Asia specialist whose areas of interest and expertise are as numerous as the prizes he’s been awarded for his writing. Tonight, he will take a wide-ranging look at his fiction writing, focusing in particular on his new novel, The China Lover, a fictionalised account of the life of Yoshiko Yamaguchi, a singer and actress who was the toast of Japanese-occupied Manchuria in the 1930’s.
Monday 9th March 7.30pm Savoring Sichuan: an evening of food talk with Fuchsia Dunlop Join Fuchsia Dunlop for dinner at a Sichuanese restaurant. Over a famously spicy meal, Fuchsia will discuss how she developed a passion for this cuisine, and how the twenty-three distinct combinations of flavour, applied to a wide variety of ingredients, create such an extraordinary range of foods. This event has a limited number of tickets available so hurry and don’t miss out on an insightful and delicious evening! Venue to be announced.
Tuesday 10th March 7.30pm Writing for the Children’s Market with Susanne Gervay Do you sometimes catch yourself thinking of wacky Dr.Seuss phrases? Do you have a children’s book idea that you would like to see in print? Susanne Gervay is the author of several books for children and young people. This afternoon, she gives an open and informative seminar on writing for the children’s market, with tips on getting published.
Wednesday 11th March 6:00pm Secrets and Spies - Mara Moustafine Mara Moustafine was born in Harbin to a family of Russian Jews. Her book, Secrets and Spies: The Harbin Files tells the story of her family’s life over 50 turbulent years in China and her quest to uncover the fate of family members who fled the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in the 1930s, only to be caught in Stalin’s purges. Prepare for a reading and a discussion about this fascinating family history in China.
Wednesday 11th March 8pm Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A discussion on memoir writing with Fuchsia Dunlop and MC Marika de Vienne What were Fuchsia Dunlop’s thoughts as she experienced first-hand working with professional chefs in China? What were her particular experiences as a foreigner entering into the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine to train as a chef? Come hear from someone who has become Britain’s foremost writer on Chinese cuisine. Her cookery books, all three of which are infused with a deep love for the food and culture of China, were followed in 2008 with Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: a sweet-sour memoir of eating in China, which Fuchsia discusses today.
Thursday 12th March 7.30pm The story teller: A Conversation with Rabih Alameddine Listen. Allow me to be your god. Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let me tell you a story- The Hakawati
What is the role of the story teller in different cultures? Do they still represent the artistic interpreters of our culture and identity? In his stunning new novel, The Hakawati, Rabih Alameddine’s identifies himself as the story teller. An ‘Arabian Nights’ for modern times, this breathtaking book interweaves bewitching stories with classic tales of the Middle East. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the ancient, fabled Fatima; and Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders. Here, too, are contemporary Lebanese whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war -- and of survival.
Friday 13th March 6:00pm - 8:00pm Writing workshop with Rabih Alameddine / Venue: The Bookworm on the Bridge (PJ) Rabih Alameddine’s writing explores the how we express ourselves in our story telling and how story telling plays an important role in how different cultures represent themselves. Through a two hour writing workshop with Alameddine, gain an insight into your own story telling abilities and explore this through an inspirational creative writing environment.
Saturday 14th March 2:00pm - 4:00pm Jacob Ross As part of the 'transnational' tradition of writers: born elsewhere like Naipaul,
Rushdie and Ben Okri, Jacob Ross represents a contemporary Caribbean perspective in his writing. Ross is often described as 'a writer's writer' because of his mastery of narrative and the stunning versatility with which he deploys language, ranging from Eastern Caribbean Creole, through to a lush, lyrical deployment of the English language. Come and hear one of the 'Rising Stars' of Caribbean literary fiction read from his most recent novel, Pynter Bender, followed by a discussion and Q&A.
Saturday 14th March 2:00pm - 4:00pm Blake Morrison writing workshop / Venue: Bookworm on the Bridge (PJ) Memoir writing workshop with Blake Morrison. Blake Morrison’s memoirs And when did you last see your father? and Things my mother never told me have been bestsellers in multiple countries. Learn from a master how to turn your stories into compelling personal narratives, whilst navigating the ethical mind field of writing about the people and experiences closest to you.
Sunday 15th March 2pm In Conversation with Julia Leigh For your quiet cozy Sunday afternoon, we have invited highly-acclaimed Australian fiction writer, Julia Leigh, who is sure to send a chill down the spine of her audience with creepy tales from a haunting family reunion in a chateau in France. Her latest Penguin Paperback, Disquiet, published in 2008, received praise from Time magazine who called it, “a small-scale masterpiece of mood.” Prepare for a reading that will leave you pleasantly disturbed.
Sunday 15th March 6pm And when did you last see your father? - In Conversation with Blake Morrison Poet, novelist, critic, playwright, essayist, editor, memoirist – Blake Morrison’s forms are as numerous as the subjects from which he draws his inspiration. From the horrors of some of the UK’s most shocking news stories, to the fragility and power of our most private relationships, Blake Morrison’s writing distils experiences common to us all into the sort of writing very few of us can achieve.
Monday 16th March 8pm Literary Quiz The usual Bookworm quiz night will be replaced by the festival quiz night where you can test your knowledge of writers, literature and literary musicians! Come take a break and share your own literary know-how with your quiz teams.
Tuesday 17th March 6pm Creative writing in English - In Conversation with Liu Hong Translator and novelist Liu Hong reflects upon her journey as a Chinese writer bridging over to a language that is not her mother tongue while living in the UK, and how this fiction writing in English becomes a particular feature in her fiction. Come hear a reading from her latest novel, “Wives of the East Wind,” and gain a sense of not only how this author draws from her own and family experiences, but also why China’s historical periods are particularly rich material for fiction.
Tuesday 17th March 8pm In conversation with Marina Lewycka with MC Rebecca Swift Why is the history of tractors so fascinating for Marina Lewycka and how does she make the subject irresistible for us? It’s a rare thing for a debut novel to sell a million copies in thirty languages, but A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian was in more ways than one a surprising book. Join Marina Lewycka tonight as she discusses the unusual story of her route to literary stardom, her second novel, Two Caravans which focused on the lives of Britain’s immigrants, and her forthcoming book, which features ‘categorically, no vehicles, and no Ukranians’.
Wednesday 18th March 6pm The ins and outs of publishing with Beijing Penguin publisher Jo Lusby and literary consultant Rebecca Swift What does it take to get your work out onto the editor desks and how do you most effectively present yourself as an emerging writer in the competitive world without losing your creative impulses? Come listen to stories, advice and the possibilities from two women who have read it all. As a follow-up to this event, there will also be individual sessions available during the 19th and the 20th for writers who would like to consult Becky Swift about their writing. Please contact The Bookworm Festival hotline for more information.
Wednesday 18th March 8pm A New Generation of Poets: Tina Chang and Nathalie Handal What kind of contemporary voices are emerging out of the Middle East or Asia, and in particular, what are the women telling the world through their poetry? Tina and Nathalie present their groundbreaking anthology of poetry collected from across Asia and the Middle East. Poets themselves, the writers present the fascinating story behind collecting the work of over 200 poets from 20 countries.
Thursday 19th March 6pm Julia Lovell As a leading translator (Lust, Caution, by Eileen Chang), historian (The Great Wall, 2006) and lecturer of Chinese history and literature at the University of Cambridge, Professor Julia Lovell explores the complex layers of history and mythology behind the monumental movements in Chinese history, such as the Great Wall. In addition, she will also touching upon her experience as a researcher and translator. This is an event that will leave you with a greater understanding of some the intricate forces behind the major and minor movements in China’s past, present and future.
Thursday 19th March 8pm In Conversation with Eliot Weinberger Eliot Weinberger has taken the essay form into unexplored territories, on the borders of poetry and narrative, where the only rule is that all the information must be verifiable. Eliot’s commentary ranges from thoughts on American contemporary politics, to the occasions throughout history on which rhinos were presented as royal gifts, to second century Taoist texts. It is always fascinating, beautifully articulate and deeply thought provoking. Tonight, we explore this unsung art, in the hands of a master craftsman.
Friday 20th March 7.30pm Festival Closing An open event for all who worked, participated, or attended the literary festival events. Come celebrate the end of the second literary festival at the Suzhou Bookworm!
Click here to see 2009 festival author biographies >>
