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Call for Submissions to The Hong Kong Writers Circle Anthology for 2022!

26/2/2022

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Members and members-to-be of the Hong Kong Writers Circle are cordially invited to submit a work of poetry, short fiction, or creative nonfiction to our annual anthology. The theme (and working title) of the 2022 Hong Kong Writers Circle Anthology is “Book Of Changes”. We are working in partnership with this year’s HK Poly U Writing Roundtable and tying our anthology to their guiding theme of Flux in Pedagogy, Creative Writing & Scholarship, defining “flux” as “uncertainty and constant change”. Use that as you wish.

Each submission will be thematically associated with one of the hexagrams of the I Ching. Functionally, this means each author will select (casting of lots is allowed) at least one of the 64 hexagrams and let one or more of its names inspire your story, flash(es), poem(s), or creative nonfiction. 

A basic list of names is available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hexagrams_of_the_I_Ching. 
For greater insight into the nuanced meanings behind the names, go to: https://ctext.org/book-of-changes. 
For a general understanding on how the hexagram works, see here for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz0Jago6XkM.

You needn’t use the name in your title, as the story’s title page will also include the name and hexagram and possibly a brief translated passage from the I Ching (still hammering out the details). Submit a proposal for your fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction, including the associated hexagram by name and number, to HKWC2022@gmail.com by the deadline of 8 March.

Please go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hexagrams_of_the_I_Ching and pick one of the words or phrases in quotes. That’s your story.
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2022 Annual General Meeting

7/2/2022

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Thank you everyone for attending last month’s Annual General Meeting. Chris Maden has already stepped down as the Chairman. Wilson Li has volunteered to step in as the Chairman. Apart from having a new Chairman, many stepped up to help out the Circle as well. Please welcome: Chloe Lee, our secretary; Sandrine Woirnesson, our treasurer; and Kopal Manglik, our volunteer in social media outreach. Please see the following message from the new Chairman. 

‘I am delighted and honoured to serve the Hong Kong Writers’ Circle as a Chairman in the year 2022. First things first, it is my honour to succeed Chris Maden. Chris has contributed all his time and effort to create fun (and more fun) on writing. Personally, I enjoyed immensely being in the Circle under his leadership.

It is also my honour to have Sandrine take care of our books (which I am hopeless at), Chloe to take care of secretary duties, Reena to coordinate events, Stewart to take charge of our socials and Last Tuesday group, Nathan to take over the upcoming anthology once again, and Kopal to make our group young and fun throughout different social media outlets. I have already been excited to work with these incredible volunteers before my first day on the job. Of course, I am so glad that so many volunteers are working diligently behind the scenes, which makes this Circle simply wonderful.

Feel free to shoot me an email at hello@hkwriterscircles.com. Share your views and ideas over the email, or better, just make a time to meet for coffee. I love coffee. Again, the honour is mine.’

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Hearkee, Ye Raskal! Hear Me, Sirrah: The Conundrums of Researching and Writing

18/4/2021

 
We had a wonderful and informative evening with Larry Feign on Thursday, 8th April.

Larry is well-known to many old Hong Kong hands as the creator of The World of Lily Wong cartoon that we turned to in the South China Morning Post in days of old. However, Thursday's session was about his new project, the historical novel, The Flower Boat Girl.

This is based on the true story of Shek Yang, the pirate queen of the south China coast. Shek Yang was a real person whom Larry first happened on in an old folk song of the Tangka or boat people. Through a series of happy coincidences, he established that she was a real person, and was able to hunt down her story - albeit one with many holes.

In his fascinating, erudite and at times funny presentation, Larry discussed the difficulties he faced in tracing source material, and the literary challenges he faced in remaining authentic to the truth while weaving a compelling story around it. 

Larry's book is available online and in Bookazine. 

Welcoming in 2021

25/2/2021

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Let's not dwell on 2020, but look forwards to 2021.

We held the AGM in January. Highlights are that we will:
  • continue with the Last Tuesday Reading Groups,
  • try and kick-start the Critique Groups,
  • come up with an upbeat theme for the 2021 anthology, and
  • do some events as soon as covid restrictions are lifted.

All of which we are now doing!
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2019 Annual General Meeting

15/1/2020

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Changes and Good News for 2020.
​
​To those who attended HKWC's AGM on 8th January, 2020, many thanks. We had a detailed and lively discussion. The highlights are:


Mission Statement.
It's been a while since the blurb about the HKWC has been given any attention. Our thanks to Cameron Deuck and Paul Corrigan for agreeing to look at this. We hope this will go some way to helping with the next item, which is...


Fund-Raising.
Your membership dues have largely gone to subsidising the annual anthology. We think it's better if they go to subsidising events, so we're looking for external funding from charities, NGOs and sympathetic individuals. That will help with...


New Members.
Since about 2016, our membership has fallen from over eighty to under forty. This is not because we've done anything wrong; it's mostly down to people leaving Hong Kong. We will approach high schools and universities, and arrange more joint events, to attract new writers. It's about quality, not quantity, but we need a certain critical mass. To which end...


Event Payment Policy.
In the past, members and non-members paid the same (or little different) for events, which meant there was little incentive to join. Starting now, paid-up members attend all HKWC events free. However, to encourage members to attend as well as to book, we will ask members to pay up front, and they will recieve a 100% cash rebate at the event. We have, however, fixed one set of free events, which is...


Last Tuesday Reading and Social (LTRS). 
On the last Tuesday of every month starting from February, HKWC will hold a reading and social at Varga Lounge, 7 p.m. The format is simple: turn up with a piece that will take no more than four or five minutes to read (about a thousand words), read it out loud, and other people attending will offer their criticism in a friendly and constructive manner. Those who read extracts from longer pieces can bring along a few print-outs of those longer pieces, on which others can read and comment by email (or whatever).

Members are encouraged to stick around for a drink or two afterwards, make friends, brainstorm, and form critique groups with like-minded members.

For your diary, the LTRS meetings in the first half of this year will be held on Tuesday February 25th, Tuesday March 31st, Tuesday April 28th, Tuesday May 26th, and Tuesday June 30th.
The reading is intended to help you develop ideas for...


The 2020 Anthology.
Long-standing member, Nathan Bridgeman has been kind enough to volunteer to be the lead editor for this year's collection, assisted by Wilson Li and Ruth Thomason. The theme will be with you before Chinese New Year, so you can think about your contribution as we enter the Year of the Rat. This, however, won't be printed unless...


2020 Subscriptions.
I have not been able to persuade Paypal to reactivate the account, so I'm afraid I must ask all members to pay their dues the old way, by cheque or ATM transfer - email the hello account for details - which brings me on to...

Treasurer.

The role of treasurer was voted out of existence at the AGM. Like any good despot, your chairman is gathering power into his hands.


Many Thanks, and Watch This Space!
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Summer update

25/7/2018

 
Summer is usually a quiet time for the HKWC as the anthology editors gather in the final drafts and many people disappear for the season (really - some people disappear for the whole season!) For now, some little things to mention:
1) Anthology contributors - final draft deadline is 31 August - don't miss it, whatever you do!
2) Our PO Box address has changed to one in Kowloon, which saves me quite a bit of legwork. Please note that you absolutely must address it as shown - you can't put a name at the top of the address because (apparently) they're cracking down on multiple users of PO Boxes. Who knew, eh?! The address is:
Hong Kong Writers' Circle
PO Box 70793
Kowloon Central Post Office
3) Our wonderful secretary Michele has a book launch in September - details on the website front page. If you have or know of any other events, just let me know at the usual email address: hello@hkwriterscircle.com
4) New podcast should be coming soon - all about MFAs...
Happy holiday!
-- Simon

YA Novelists - Podcast

30/5/2018

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Reena Bhojwani discusses young adult fiction with Natalie Murray, Jordan Rivet and Anjali Mittal, both writing and publishing. Check it out here: ​http://traffic.libsyn.com/hongkongpodcast/037-hkwcpodcast-episode037-yanovels.mp3
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Melon SF Conference by Simon Berry

17/4/2018

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Picture
If anyone had any residual doubts about science fiction’s being a serious subject, they would have been dispelled by the slick professionalism of the event and the quality of the speakers. Held at Hong Kong’s Conrad Hotel, the packed audience speakers included academics, scientists, editors, film makers and, of course, authors. Topics ranged from a history of science fiction to challenges faced in publication, from the search for alien life to genetic engineering and, of course, included a number of authors talking about their work and their writing process as well as editors and film makers. Interestingly, there were also sessions on the financial aspects of science fiction, including sessions lead by investors.
Highlights included author Allen Steele’s talk on the history of science fiction, providing an important understanding of science fiction’s journey from the fringes to the mainstream, MIT Media Lab’s Lisa Nip presentation about inorganic human augmentation as a means of adapting the human for long distance space travel and life on alien planets and the SETI institute’s Seth Shostak’s lively talk on the search for extra-terrestrial life.
A fantastic event for Sci-Fi readers, writers and the merely curious and one that has a firm place in Hong Kong’s literary scene. I’ll be back for next year’s event.
https://www.melon-x.com
Check out our podcast about melon on YouTube, through I Tunes or direct download.

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Last Gods of Indochine

12/4/2018

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Samuel Ferrer introduces his novel The Last Gods of Indochine, and gives a masterclass on editing a novel for publication.​
YouTube version
Podcast version
Subscribe to the podcast on I Tunes
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AGM and January Social

15/1/2018

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Come along on 29 January at Culture Club (15 Elgin Street)
This month, join your fellow Writers Circle members to discuss where we've been and decide where we're heading. 
The AGM is a great opportunity to share any ideas you might have on the future of the HKWC, or if you would like to get more involved in socials, critique groups, the anthology or simply the Writers Circle in general.  
Following that, there will be a chance to have a drink and break in the New Year with fellow writing friends. Things will get going from 7pm, and if you are planning to attend do let us know on MeetUp below We hope to see you there!
Meetup Link: https://www.meetup.com/Hong-Kong-Writers-Social-Meetup/events/246743809/
YouTube directions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjwLcuvf_I4
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HONG KONG WRITERS CIRCLE
  • Home
  • What we do
    • Your writing journey
    • Anthologies
    • Critique Groups
    • Last Tuesday Reading Group
    • Socials and Networking
    • Workshops
    • Press
    • Podcast
  • Members
  • Publications
  • Info
    • Membership Form
    • Contact
    • Documents
    • Friends