The impressive line-up for this year’s literary fest includes prize-winning novelists like Alan Hollinghurst and Elizabeth Knox, as well as esteemed China watchers such as Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Evan Osnos. All sessions are RMB 65 (includes a drink) or RMB 20 for children and students.
Saturday, February 25
11am Geremie R. Barmé: West Lake: A World Made by Literature and Politics. Hangzhou’s West Lake, recently made a UNESCO World Heritage site, is China’s most iconic man-made environment. Barmé, director of the Australian Centre on China in the World, offers a tour of a literary and political landscape that inspired China’s century of revolution.
12.30pm Cheryl Tan: Sex, Lies & Pineapple Tarts. On a mission to preserve her Singapore family’s treasured recipes, Tan excavates family histories along with the recipes.
2pm Wine Writers Panel A panel of prominent wine writers and critics discuss the role of wine writing and its influence on the development of the Chinese wine market.
3.30pm Liu Cheng: Screenwriting as Literature Are screenplays literature? Liu Cheng – film professor, scriptwriter and the author of the Three Character Primer of Film and other panelists discuss and debate. Moderated by Ed Wong.
5pm Harold McGee: Chemistry in the Kitchen. The author of the seminal work on the chemistry of food and cooking -- “one of the greatest cookery books ever written”, according to Heston Blumenthal -- on the centuries-old dialogue between cooking and science.
Sunday, February 26
12.30pm Jan Latta: Adventures in the Wild with Endangered Animals Come on a grand adventure with author and wildlife photographer Jan Latta, as she shares her stories of mischievous chimps, cunning cheetahs and gentle pandas. Ages 7-17.
2pm Elizabeth Knox: Angels, Vintners and the Magic of Make-Believe. From 19th century Burgundy to prewar Hollywood, and a guardian angel main character, New Zealand author Elizabeth Knox talks about the fertile imagination needed to create magical make-believe.
3.30pm Kunal Basu: Of Love and Rebellion: Searching for a Chinese Cure for the French Disease. A Portuguese doctor ensconces himself in the Empress Dowager’s palace to find a cure for syphilis.
5pm Alan Hollinghurst: Private Lives. The Man Booker Prize-winning author on the art and artifice of crafting his characters’ biographies.
Thursday, March 1
6pm Jeff Fuchs: The Ancient Tea Horse Trail: Travels with the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers. Fuchs, the first westerner to complete the arduous eight month long journey on the ancient trade route, shares his tales of the road.
Saturday, March 3
11am Anne Sebba: That Woman -- or the Duchess of Style? Time to Reassess Wallis Simpson. Biographer Sebba uses three years’ worth of research and dramatic new documents to take a fresh look at the woman for whom King Edward VIII gave up the monarchy – who was she and what power did she have over the King?
12.30pm Siddhartha Deb: The Beautiful and the Damned. As India transforms itself, Siddhartha Deb takes an in-depth look at the people caught in the transition: from farmers rioting over seed speculation to a flamboyant management guru in Delhi who sued the author to prevent the publication of his profile in the Indian edition of the book.
2pm Tom Rob Smith & Kathryn Chua: Russian Rippers & Vengeful Vampires. Man Booker Prize longlisted author Smith and teenage author Chua on the dark side of the novel.
3.30pm The Great Financial Times DebateDoes China’s rise spell America’s decline? FT journalists debate the meaning of the biggest shift in power since America emerged as a global superpower.
5pm Mohammed Hanif: Our Lady of Alice Bhatti. Pakistani author Hanif on his latest book – ridiculous, funny, and painfully true, all about modern Karachi, a Catholic hospital, a Muslim bodybuilder and the quirkiness of love.
Sunday March 4
11am Barney Loehnis: Long March Revisited. Loehnisshares his extraordinary tale of his 9,000 km walk across China, retracing the route of the Red Army’s 1935 Long March on foot – the first person to have done so since 1936.
12.30pm Evan Osnos, Ian Johnson, Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Michelle Loyalka, Christine Larson:The Art of the Profile: Writing about China--One Life at a Time Contributors to the forthcoming anthology
Chinese Characters: Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land, share the profiles of individual Chinese written for the book and how it brings a unique perspective to understanding China.
2pm Criselda Yabes: Reality, Reportage and Fiction. A former journalist whose novel on the Moro rebellion was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, Filipina author Yabes talks about turning historical events and reportage to fiction.
3.30pm Arvind Subramanian: Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance. Subramanian, one of Foreign Policy’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers”, considers the global economic shift now taking place and considers a scenario with China as the world’s dominant economic power.
5pm Shahidul Alam, Lois Connor, Rosa Maria Falvo, Jiang Jian: The PhotoBook: Recording Social Engagement. Contemporary photographers demonstrate and discuss social engagement as mediated through the lens of photography. Moderated by Meg Maggio.
Wednesday, March 7
12.30pm Ross Garnaut: The Garnaut Climate Change Review
Professor Ross Garnaut discusses his study of the impact of climate change on the economy and discusses the policies that can ameliorate this impact. Moderated by Jonathan Watts.
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