International Writers’ Workshop

THE FIRST

International Writers’ Workshop

IN ASIA

About IWW

The International Writers’ Workshop (IWW) at HKBU
is a self-funded, non-profit programme supported primarily by donations.

Its goal is to invite writers from around the world to visit HKBU and
engage in creativity-inspiring activities with local students, writers,
and the general Hong Kong community.

New! Click here to view the IWW Fact Sheet

About IWW

IWW Organization

Archives

About IWW

IWW Organization

Archives

Events

Please make a selection from the dropdown.

  • Fall

    2024 Distinguished Writers Series

  • Spring

    2024 Writers-in-Residence

  • Fall

    2023 Distinguished Writers Series

  • Spring 2023 Writers-in-Residence

  • Fall

    2022 Distinguished Writers Series

  • Spring

    2022 Writers-in-Residence

  • Fall

    2021 Distinguished Writers Series

  • Spring

    2021 Writers-in-Residence

  • Fall

    2020 Distinguished Writers Series

  • Spring

    2020 Writers-in-Residence

  • Fall

    2019 Distinguished Writers Seires

  • Spring

    2019 Writers-in-Residence

  • Fall

    2018 Distinguished Writers Series

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2018

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2017

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2017

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2016

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2016

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2015

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2015

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2014

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2014

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2013

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2013

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2012

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2012

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2011

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2011

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2010

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2010

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2009

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2009

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2008

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2008

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2007

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2007

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2006

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2006

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2005

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2005

  • Fall

    Visiting Writers 2004

  • Spring

    Writer-in-Residence 2004

  • Fall
    2024 Distinguished Writers Series

  • Spring
    2024 Writers-in-Residence

Previous Year

Contact Us

Keep
in touch
with us.

Keep in touch with us.

Director
Associate Director
Mr. James SHEA (Acting Director)
Tel
+852 3411 2510
Fax
+852 3411 2553
Email
Address
International Writers’ Workshop
OEW 1105, 11/F Oen Hall
HSH Campus
Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong
Hong Kong
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  • About IWW

  • IWW Organization

  • Archives

  • About IWW

    Founded in 2004, the International Writers’ Workshop (IWW) at HKBU is a self-funded, non-profit programme supported solely by donations. Its goal is to invite writers from around the world to visit HKBU to engage in creativity-inspiring activities with local students, writers, and the general Hong Kong community, providing opportunities for cultural exchange within and outside the university campus. IWW has invited over one hundred and thirty writers from fifty-five countries to Hong Kong. They stay on campus and interact with university students and staff, as well as with Hong Kong writers and the public. The establishment of the International Writers’ Workshop may be regarded as an important and historically significant initiative to promote cultural and educational activities in Hong Kong.

    New! Click here to view the IWW Fact Sheet

    Mission

    The objectives of IWW are threefold:
    • at the university level, to encourage creative writing and engage students in literary discussion;
    • at the local level, to enrich the cultural life of Hong Kong people; and
    • at the international level, to inspire literary creativity of writers from around the globe through exposing them to Hong Kong life and culture.

    * * *

    In 2018, IWW launched three new programmes: the Distinguished Writers Series, the newly-designed Writers-in-Residence Programme, and the IWW Literary Festival.

    Distinguished Writers Series
    Each fall, we invite a prominent, award-winning international writer to visit HKBU for a Literary Reading, Conversation, and a Masterclass. Past writers we have had the honour to host include:

    2023 – Mr. Yasuhiro Yotsumoto
    2022 – Mr. Simon Armitage
    2021 – Ms. Yoko Tawada
    2020 – Ms. Helen Oyeyemi
    2019 – Mr. Nam Le
    2018 – Mr. Tyehimba Jess

    Writers-in-Residence Programme
    Each spring, a group of international writers are selected from a competitive pool of applicants and invited to stay on campus for four weeks.

    IWW Literary Festival
    At the culmination of the Writers-in-Residence Programme, we host the annual IWW Literary Festival, which is a series of literary events based on a specific theme. The events range from literary readings and panel discussions to film screenings and creative writing workshops. Speakers and panelists include our Writers-in-Residence and other local scholars and writers. Previous IWW Literary Festival themes include:

    2024 – Origins and Futures
    2023 – Turbulence · Tranquility · Transdisciplinary Writing
    2022 – Writing and Well-being
    2021 – Humanity and the Planet
    2019 – The Many Worlds of Science Fiction

     

    * * *

     

    Former IWW Programmes
    Our previous annual events were the Writer-in-Residence Programme and the Visiting Writers Programme. The writers we invited for the Writer-in-Residence Programme included:

    2018 – Mr. Ma Jian
    2017 – Ms. Li Zishu
    2016 – Ms. Shih Shu-ching
    2015 – Ms. Li Ang
    2014 – Mr. Bi Feiyu
    2013 – Ms. Su Wei-chen
    2012 – Mr. Yan Lianke
    2011 – Mr. Lo Yi-chin
    2010 – Mr. Zhang Wei
    2009 – Mr. Hwang Chun-ming
    2008 – Mr. Han Shaogong
    2007 – Mr. Ya Hsien
    2006 – Mr. Li Rui
    2005 – Ms. Li Yu
    2004 – Mr. Chen Yingzhen

    The former Visiting Writers Programme entailed inviting and hosting a group of esteemed international writers at Hong Kong Baptist University for a month each fall. The group included foreign writers and Chinese-language writers. A theme was set for the programme every year:

    2017 – Mixing & Making
    2016 – The Written World
    2015 – Words and Other Interventions
    2014 – The Magical Reality of Writing
    2013 – Passages through Time: Endings and Beginnings
    2012 – Writing the Metropolis
    2011 – Writers from Northern and Central Europe
    2010 – Writers from the Mediterranean
    2009 – Writers from the Pacific Rim
    2008 – Writers from Eastern Europe
    2007 – Writing the Sea and the Waterfront
    2006 – One with Mother-Nature
    2005 – Understanding the Islamic World and Its Writers
    2004 – Writers from Post-colonial English-speaking Countries

  • IWW Organization

    Steering Committee (2023/24)

    Prof. Stuart CHRISTIE, Director of International Writers’ Workshop; Executive Associate Dean of Arts, HKBU

    Mr. James SHEA, Associate Director of International Writers’ Workshop; Department of Humanities and Creative Writing

    Dr. CHOW-QUESADA Emily Shun-man, Department of English Language and Literature

    Dr. Jason POLLEY, Department of English Language and Literature

    Dr. Johnathan HARRINGTON, Department of English Language and Literature

    Dr. Patrick HOLLAND, Department of Humanities and Creative Writing

    Prof. LO Kwai Cheung, Department of Humanities and Creative Writing

    Dr. Janice PAN, Department of Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies

    Prof. CHEN Li, Department of Computer Science

     

     

    Board of Advisors

    Ms. Polly HO, Kubrick Poetry Society

    Mr. David McKIRDY, Poetry OutLoud

    Ms. Elizabeth TURAI-KISS, Renaissance College Hong Kong

    Ms. Eva WONG Yi, Fleurs des Lettres

     

    Board of Honorary Advisors

    Prof. Kamau BRATHWAITE (Barbados, Caribbean Sea) (Deceased), Poet; Playwright

    Prof. CHUNG Ling (Hong Kong / Taiwan), Poet; Short story writer; Founder and former Director of the IWW, HKBU

    Prof. Howard GOLDBLATT (USA), Translator; Sinologist

    Mr. HWANG Chun-ming (Taiwan), Novelist

    Prof Göran MALMQVIST (Sweden) (Deceased), Translator; Writer; Sinologist; Member of the Nobel Committee, The Royal Swedish Academy

    Prof. Christopher MERRILL (USA), Poet; Director of the International Writing Program, The University of Iowa

    Prof. NIEH Hua-ling (USA), Novelist; Founder and former Director of the International Writing Program, The University of Iowa

    Mr. PAI Hsien-yung (USA / Taiwan), Novelist

    Prof. Gary SNYDER (USA),  Poet; winner of Pulitzer Prize and Lannan Award

    Dr. Chris SONG (HK), Poet

    Prof. William TAY (Taiwan / Hong Kong), Translator; President of INK: A Literary Monthly

    Ms. ZHENG Min (China), Poet

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