Dear Members,
This is perhaps the best time of the year in Hong Kong when the city goes from sticky hot to breezy warm. It’s when we take the time to revisit our favourite scary reads, watch as the leaves change colour (somewhere in Hong Kong, surely) and, of course, firm up our holiday plans for the season. But before you start googling eggnog recipes, we have a couple more events lined up for you in this final quarter after a very busy Q3. Thank you to all those who submitted to Imprint 23! If you wished you had sent in photographs, perhaps we can help you polish your skills for next year’s submissions with Jayne Russell’s Smartphone Photography Workshop coming up in November, shortly after our annual festive season dinner! We look forward to seeing you at one or preferably both of these events. Happy Halloween!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Gallery Private Tour
This is your final chance to register for “Dusk Upon the Hush”, a private tour of the gallery showcasing works on paper created by Liu Guofu between 2016 and 2024. The event takes place on Friday, 25 October at Gallery 3812 in Central followed by an optional self-paid dinner nearby.
Save the Date: WiPS Holiday Party – Saturday, 23 November
In what is fast becoming a highly anticipated annual fixture, the WiPS committee is working hard to bring you a delightful evening of holiday cheer, great company and a surprise or two, starting with the venue, which is exclusive and in Central. To add to the fun, we will repeat last year’s twist on the traditional Secret Santa, once again sharing the thing that brings us together – books. New or pre-loved, we love them all, and eagerly await our opportunity to exchange literary treasures with our fellow book lovers. Expect an evening filled with great food, good fun and perhaps more than a little “well-mannered frivolity”. So keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to register as soon as the notice comes out – places are limited!
A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words
We’re excited to announce that Jayne Russell of Jayne Russell Photography will lead us in a Smartphone Photography Workshop on Saturday, 30 November. Jayne will take us through a highly-instagrammable neighbourhood while talking us through key features of the smartphone to help you take publish-worthy photographs, ending the morning with a photo competition! This workshop is limited to just eight participants and we are sorry to tell those who weren’t quick enough that the event sold out in four hours! With such a response, we will try and hold additional workshops in 2025.
ONGOING EVENTS
Book Club
Our Book Club members continue to enjoy reading and discussing a variety of books. In the last three sessions we read Diamond Hill by Kit Fan, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. All three books examined the human condition, giving us memorable and moving protagonists as well as interesting (sometimes loathsome) antagonists, sparking lively debate among the group. We are currently reading Fairhaven – A Novel of Climate Optimism by Jan Lee and Steve Willis. Our November book will be announced shortly, after which we will take a break for the holiday season; the following book group will be held in January 2025. We look forward to reading more books and welcoming new members.
Writing Workshop
Despite its popularity, the Writing Workshop’s facilitators have decided to limit attendance to just six participants going forward. This allows the group to spend more time providing feedback and discussing the development of the stories submitted. But don’t let this put you off from registering. We offer a waitlist and the opportunity to join a second monthly writing workshop if we have enough people on it.
PAST EVENTS
A Rundown of Activities
We have been thoroughly spoiled this summer by a wonderfully eclectic mix of WiPS-hosted events. Whether you joined our gallery visit at Yidi Art and later supper discussion exploring Takuto Kadokura’s theatrical and charismatic exhibition, or came along to be intellectually challenged by Dr Page Richards’ stimulating presentation on the role of AI in creative writing, there was something for everyone. We were encouraged to question our assumptions on gender identity by Kadokura’s bold and startling work, and to “wake up in astonishment” by Dr Richards, who admitted she did just that in response to daily global AI developments. More recently, published Life Writers Ritu Hemnani, Sonia Leung and Susan Lavender revealed their diverse and unique approaches to capturing life on the page in an evening of lively conversation at the AWA chaired by Rinkoo Ramchandani. See our WiPS website for more details.
AND FINALLY…
New Members
A warm welcome to our 10 new members who have joined since July: Anuja Agarwal, Suthida Kittiaksorn-McClaskey, Emma Kovalevsky, Sonia Leung, Laura Mannering, Nicola Nightingale, Samantha Shields, Imogen Short, Gabriele Wassermann and Eunice Xu.
Imprint 23
By the time of the 30 September deadline, we had received a bumper crop of submissions from fifty members to Imprint 23. All contributors have been acknowledged and editing is well underway. We thank everyone for respecting the deadline; it helps production greatly. As the editing takes time, we will only be in touch with you if we have any queries with your pieces. The diversity of contributions has been astonishing and provides a foundation for what we know will be an exciting anthology.
With our best wishes
Your WiPS Committee