Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival Event Highlights

Calling all who love to imagine and create their own stories…

It’s that time of year again when the Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival brings exciting new stories, workshops and award winning authors to all our book lovin’ kids. Check out the amazing line up of event highlights coming your way!

Drawing Dragons

Draw your very own magnificent Chinese dragon! Join best-selling author and illustrator Yangsook Choi for this very special workshop and hear some fun and unexpected facts about the dragon along the way. Budding artists will learn step-by-step dragon drawing techniques.

When: Saturday, 12 March at 11.30am – 12.30pm
Where: Comix Home Base
How much: $120 (Ages 6 to 11)

The Power of People and Places

Do you dream of becoming a writer? Well here’s your chance to learn from a leading voice in children’s fiction. Jewell Parker Rhodes, teacher and author of novels Ninth Ward and Bayou Magic, leads burgeoning writers in creating lively characters in vibrant settings. Grab your thinking cap and join us.

When: Saturday, 12 March, 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Where: Comix Home Base
How much: $120 (Ages 10 to 12)

Write with Bali

Bali Rai is best known for writing about the lives of everyday young people and his books, including [Un]arranged Marriage and Rani and Sukh, have been nominated for countless awards. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to pen their own stories, using their lives and surroundings as inspiration, and also hear from one of the greatest storytellers of our time on exactly why he writes. Learn how to let your ideas go from your imagination to the page.

When: Saturday 12, March, 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Where: Comix Home Base
How much: $120 (Ages 10+)

Brain Jack

What happens when hackers can see inside your mind? Find out when Brian Falkner talks about his exciting cyber thriller Brain Jack. Revolutionary neuro-headsets have replaced computer keyboards in this dystopian novel – it’s Internet at the speed of thought. The book’s protagonist, Sam, unfolds the most dangerous cyber conspiracy against all mankind and fights to prevent the human race from being deleted.  Not to be missed if you’re a technology or science fiction fan!

When: Saturday, 12 March, 4.30pm – 6.00pm
Where: Comix Home Base
How much: $100 (Ages 12+)

Here, There and Everywhere with Uma Krishnaswami

Join writer and Scholastic Asian Book Award recipient Uma Krishnaswami as she takes you on a colourful writing journey. Meet some of Uma’s most energetic and adventurous characters including Book Uncle and Me’s Yasmin who ambitiously vows to read a book a day for the rest of her life, and Dini, the Bollywood movie fanatic in The Grand Plan to Fix Everything and it’s hugely successful follow up The Problem With Being Slightly Heroic.

When: Sunday March 13, 11:30am – 12:30pm
Where: GROWHOUSE
How much:  $100 (Ages 8+)

Magic and Mermaids

It’s Maddy’s turn to have a bayou summer with her mysterious Grandmère. At first she misses life back home in the city, but soon she grows to love everything about her new surroundings — the glimmering fireflies, the glorious landscape, and something else, deep within the water, that only Maddy sees. Could it be a mermaid? A coming-of-age tale rich with folk magic and set in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, Bayou Magic celebrates hope, friendship, and family, and captures the wonder of life in America’s Deep South. Jewell Parker Rhodes talks about myths, magic and her love of Louisiana.
When: Sunday, 13 March, 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Where: GROWHOUSE
How much: $100 (Ages 8 to 12)

Web of Darkness

How many ‘friends’ do you have online? Do you know who they really are? Bali Rai is one of the world’s best-loved teenage fiction writers and his latest thriller, Web of Darkness, is a cautionary tale that explores contemporary issues that affect most modern teenagers.  Join Bali as he talks about writing this page-turner and the important message behind it.

When: Sunday 13, March, 4.30pm – 6.00pm
Where: GROWHOUSE
How much: $100 (Ages 15+)

For more information, check out the Young Readers Festival for other event details!