Haven Books is an English-language press that aims to put a wide range of interesting books into readers' hands. Our titles focus primarily on Hong Kong and Asian themes.

Art and Literature: Shaping Politics and Culture

15th March, 2010

How does literature affect art? How do political and other ideas filter through culture, and how, in turn, do the arts influence politics and society? Join award-winning author Rachel Kushner, whose debut novel, Telex from Cuba, was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award, a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and winner of the California Book Award as she contemplates these issues surrounded by the art of Karin Weber's art gallery. Kushner is co-editor of the art, theory and literature journal, Soft Targets, and has written widely on contemporary art, including numerous features in Artforum.

Participants: Rachel Kushner, Dania Shawwa Abuali

Event Details:

18:00 - 19:00
Karin Weber Gallery
20 Aberdeen Street

The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2010 Website
General Ticket Price HKD$120.00 / Friends Ticket Price: $100.00

Politics and Identity: In Between Places

14th March, 2010

So many of us straddle cultural divides. Finding a sense of belonging in strange territory is a fertile subject, and it may be that distance is essential to discovering how one belongs to one's own culture. Mandla Langa has lived in exile between Botswana and Budapest; Shamini Flint has lived away from Malaysia and travelled extensively within Asia; and Hyejin Kim was born in Korea but lives in Singapore. Yet they all write of home. Moderated by Dania Shawwa Abuali. Mr Langa appears with the assistance of the South African Consulate and South African Airways.

Event Details:

10:30 - 11:30am
Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre
7A Kennedy Rd

Ticket Purchase:

The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2010 Website
General Ticket Price HKD$120.00 / Friends Ticket Price: $100.00

13th March, 2010

A talk on books, book designs & challenges of making books with designers, editors, authors & publishers, including Haven Book’s Dania Shawwa Abuali and Katie Kwan.

Event Details:

2:30pm
Fringe Studio
2 Lower Albert Road

Free admission.

Life Recipes from My Mother

13th March, 2010

Join an energetic conversation as Betty Jamie Chung, author of LIFE RECIPES FROM MY MOTHER, tries to tame cheeky columnist Nury Vittachi, a man constantly accused of opening his big mouth just a little too wide. In her new self-help book, which uses family history to teach social graces, the author delivers her late mother’s valuable life lessons in three heart-warming batches: “Recipes for the Soul”, “Recipes for Successful Relationships” and “Recipes for Agreeable Living”. Even as she shares her mother’s traditional wisdom, however, Betty Jamie Chung also describes her as a complex woman who was well ahead of her time in 1930s China: espousing independent thinking, higher education and early feminism. Old-fashioned as they may seem, the life lessons she passed on make a case for timeless human values and codes of conduct, often gleefully ignored or simply forgotten in our fast-paced modern lives. Ticket price includes light breakfast buffet, served 11 to 11.30am.

Event Details:

11.00am - 12.30pm
W52
52 Wyndham Street,
Central

Ticket Purchase:

The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2010 Website
General Ticket Price HKD$120.00 Friends Ticket Price HKD$100.00