Atwood, Rushdie, Amy Tan – quirks of HK Lit Fest guests

The Hong Kong International Literary Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year (March 1 to 8), marking a quarter of a century of bringing some of the most famous – and in some cases, most quirky – authors to the city. Among those with more than one story to tell have been: Bonnie Tsui: most recent book: On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters (2025) It was perhaps inevitable that Tsui would publish her 2020 book Why We Swim, which explores the global history and personal allure of swimming. In the book, Tsui discusses her parents’ meeting as a central part of her family’s “origin story”. The teenagers crossed paths at a public swimming pool in Hong Kong (although Tsui has never specified which one) in 1968, he working as a lifeguard at the pool, she – a “bikini-clad beauty” – visiting to swim. Tsui notes that because of this meeting, it was “inevitable” that she and her brother would become competitive swimmers and lifeguards. After moving to the United States, her father, George Tsui, won an Emmy Award in 1997, for his work in NBC’s art department. Tsui is making two appearances at this year’s festival: in discussion with fellow writer Arshay Cooper at The Science and Soul of Strength event (March 1, at Wyndham Social), the pair discussing how movement, especially on and in the water, shapes identity, fosters belonging and strengthens body and spirit; and as a keynote speaker (March 3). Marga Ortigas: God’s Ashes: Apocrypha (2024) Another of this year’s guests, Ortigas spent years as a war correspondent for Al Jazeera and CNN before becoming a celebrated novelist. In fact, Ortigas started writing her debut novel, The House on Calle Sombra (2021), while she was hunkered down in Iraq and other war zones. She used fiction as a way to process the chaos around her, blending real-world reporting grit with a satirical take on the Filipino elite. Ortigas will be making an appearance, with fellow author Stephanie Sy, on March 3, International Women’s Day, at Women, Words & Wine, a relaxed evening for readers, writers and authors at Call Me Al, the female-owned wine bar in Sheung Wan. She will also be part of the Writing Southeast Asia panel discussion at the Fringe Club (March 1) and the WTF: Women Turning Fifty literary lunch talk at Soho House (March 4). Salman Rushdie: The Eleventh Hour (2025) Scheduled to be the headliner at the very first Hong Kong International Literary Festival, in 2001, Rushdie had to cancel due to security concerns following the 9/11 attacks in the United States. He finally appeared, albeit virtually (as he was then recovering from being personally attacked), in 2023. Before becoming famous, Rushdie was an advertising copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather in Britain, and is the man who coined the famous “Irresistibubble” slogan for Aero chocolate bars – also considered were “Adorabubble”, “Delectabubble” and “Availabubble”. Rushdie is also credited with thinking up the slogan “Naughty but Nice” to promote cream cakes on behalf of Britain’s National Dairy Council and the Milk Marketing Board. Margaret Atwood: Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts (2025) The Canadian author of The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), as well as other books that seemed to anticipate current societal drift in the West – such as the MaddAddam trilogy and The Testaments (2019) – also invented the LongPen, a device that allows writers to sign books remotely from anywhere in the world using a tablet and a robotic arm. Atwood graced the lit fest in 2009 and 2021 (virtually). Amy Tan: The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024) California-born Amy Tan, who appeared at the festival in 2017, is a member of a charity rock band called The Rock Bottom Remainders, performing alongside other bestselling authors such as Stephen King, Dave Barry (who has described the band as playing music “as well as Metallica writes novels”), Mitch Albom and The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Founded in 1992 by late literary publicist Kathi Kamen Goldmark, the band’s name comes from the publishing term “remainder”, referring to books that don’t sell and end up in the discount bin. Their most recent gig was at the Miami Book Fair in 2024. Ian McEwan: What We Can Know (2025) A famous author he may be, but McEwan – who appeared at the festival in 2008 – has had his critics even among his sons’ teachers. When Gregory McEwan was studying his father’s 1997 novel Enduring Love for his A-Level English exams and facing a fast-approaching deadline, he turned to the ultimate source – his father – for help. For Gregory’s essay, Ian provided insights into his own intent, the psychological underpinnings of the characters and the “correct” way to view the narrative arc. Nevertheless, the teacher was unimpressed, giving Gregory a C+ and arguing that the student had fundamentally misunderstood the book – specifically, that his interpretation of the characters and analysis didn’t align with the standard academic readings of the text. McEwan Snr appears to have taken the slight in good humour. Kamila Shamsie: Best of Friends (2022) Even though she had never played the game before, in 2012, Kamila joined the Authors XI, a cricket team composed of famous writers (including the likes of Sebastian Faulks and Peter Frankopan). Because the team is made up of professional writers, records of their games are unique – instead of dry scorecards, they are often documented in beautifully written essays, newspaper columns and books such as The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon (2013), which includes a chapter by Shamsie about the experience of playing against the Shepperton Ladies. Notable teams the Authors have played have included a Vatican XI (in Rome); the National Team of Japan (in 2013, in London, and which the scribblers actually won); the Iceland National Team (in Reykjavik in 2017); and the Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals (during the Jaipur Literature Festival). Their next game is in July, against a team consisting solely of actors, at Arundel Castle in Britain. Kevin Kwan: Lies and Weddings (2024) Of Crazy Rich Asians fame and who appeared at the festival in 2020 as well as at an associated event at the KEE Club, in 2015 – comes from a long line of men who have accumulated column inches in newspapers. A great-grandfather, Oh Sian Guan, was a founding director of Singapore’s now oldest bank, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), in 1932. And Kwan’s paternal grandfather, Arthur Kwan Pah Chien, was an ophthalmologist who became Singapore’s first Western-trained specialist and was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth for his philanthropic efforts. David Sedaris: The Land and its People (expected this May) A 2020 Hong Kong festival visitor, Sedaris is apparently obsessed with picking up litter. He has spent hours walking around Horsham, his neighbourhood in West Sussex, England, cleaning the roads – so much so that a local rubbish truck was named in his honour, “Pig Pen Sedaris” being unveiled at a ceremony in 2014. Furthermore, in 2018, the American humorist was invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace, not as a mark of his success as a comedian, but for his litter picking.

Atwood, Rushdie, Amy Tan – quirks of HK Lit Fest guests

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Weird and wonderful real-life tales of authors who have appeared at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, from Margaret Atwood to Salman Rushdie

Weird and wonderful real-life tales of authors who have appeared at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, from Margaret Atwood to Salman Rushdie