Literary Collections

How do we situate ourselves when we navigate the city of Hong Kong—physically, and in our minds? Against a backdrop of bustling density and movement, the difficulties of making space have shaped our days. From the challenges of limited living space and the quest for personal space, to the everyday negotiations of our identities in the social space, we are constantly confronted with the question: How do we redefine the distance between the city, others, and ourselves, and between the selves within us?

This collection features prose, poetry and artwork from writers and artists in or from Hong Kong, as well as those who have had a close connection with the city, that explore the (im)possibility of making space. How do we remake space in our lives and our creative practices? What does this (im)possibility mean in (or in relation to) Hong Kong today?

Zhou Zuoren (1885–1967), the brother of writer Lu Xun, was one of the most controversial intellectuals in modern China. Radically at odds with many of his contemporaries, Zhou opposed the May Fourth reformers. His work was banned in both mainland China and Taiwan for many years as a result of his collaboration with the Japanese puppet government during the Sino-Japanese War.

This collection of essays presents an alternative vision of China as a nation, questioning the dichotomy between modernity and tradition and espousing a literary style that values openness and individualism.

Amidst the reshaping of Hong Kong’s social, cultural, political and ideological landscape, how do we reenvisage a city that exists in our memories? For those who have left their hometown—or the place they once called home—the question, “What does it mean to be a Hongkonger?” marks a constant shift between conflicting realities, identities and perceptions. Beyond the act of remembering, how do we reimagine our relationship with Hong Kong in the present and the future?

In this collection of prose, poetry and photography by eighteen writers and artists, we see a gathering of reflections on the profound changes and subtle transitions that have transpired in Hong Kong, both in recent times and over the past decades.

This is a fascinating, insightful collection of essays by some of the world’s most renowned China experts, who share personal recollections of their time in China—often beginning in the 1970s, when foreigners were just beginning to navigate the linguistic and cultural terrain of that country—and reflect on what learning Chinese has meant to them in their careers and lives. Ian Johnson, the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist notes in his essay, it is only by knowing the language that we can effectively enter people’s lives—their myths and histories, their interior lives and dreams. Trying to do this without speaking the language is usually fraudulent and results in only a clichéd understanding of other cultures. Simply knowing Chinese won’t solve all these problems, but the reverse proposition is true: we can’t really understand China and interpret it for audiences back home unless we know the language. Thomas Gorman’s equally sprightly essay tells how, in 1974, he set out hitchhiking to Vancouver in order to take a cheap flight to Hong Kong, where he arrived with only $150 in his pocket. Twenty-one years later, he was president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

These ten native English speakers (including veteran journalists, expert in Chinese art history, scholar in classical Chinese literature, teacher of Chinese language, economics policy advisor, businesspeople, and expert in Chinese law) share rare and, at times, humorous and intimate moments, of how learning and speaking Chinese has removed barriers, built rapport, opened doors, and sometimes led them down entirely unexpected roads that have changed the course of their lives.

Pai Hsien-yung is among the most important writers in contemporary Chinese and world literature. His masterpiece Taipei People is a classic of Taiwanese modernism; with an intensity of vision comparable to James Joyce’s Dubliners, it follows the individual struggles of the people of Taipei, with a mix of compassion, nostalgia, mourning, and tenacious clarity.

Fifty years after its publication, the collection continues to move readers around the world. Stories from this collection have been translated into French, German, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, Japanese, and Korean.