Ritu Hemnani is an author, journalist, educator and motivational speaker whose hope is for every child to see themselves in the pages of a book and know that their stories matter. Ritu is passionate about promoting diversity and empathy through her writing. She has written stories for the South China Morning Post, and her debut middle grade novel in verse, Lion of the Sky, was published by HarperCollins in 2024. Ritu shares the seeds of her writing journey and the inspiration behind her deep dive into her own family history in her 2019 TEDx Talk, An Inheritance Worth Sharing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-GelCkt-t4. You can find Ritu at her website: www.rituhemnani.com
Sonia Leung is an award-winning poet, fiction and creative non-fiction writer from Hong Kong. Her work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies worldwide (www.soniaflleung.com). She is the author of Don’t Cry, Phoenix (2020), an English and Chinese poetry collection with a CD of ten original songs, and the critically acclaimed autobiography The Girl Who Dreamed: A Hong Kong Memoir of Triumph against the Odds (2024). Sonia is exploring the publication of her third book, Three-Inch Heaven – Stories of Chinese Women’s Resilience and Determination.
Susan Lavender is a published writer of poetry and prose. She is currently writing her first full-length novel. Primarily an actress, Susan performs in theatre, story-telling and literary events, such as the Hong Kong Literary Festival, often writing her own spoken-word performance material. She is also a translator registered with the Italian Consulate General in Hong Kong, RTHK newsreader and retired solicitor. Anglo-Italian by birth, Susan has lived in Hong Kong and China for over 30 years. She is bilingual in English and Italian, fluent in French and has studied Mandarin in Beijing. She has two law degrees from McGill University, Montreal, Canada and a 1st Class Honours degree from University College London in Italian and Romanian language and literature.
Wednesday, 16 October 2024
6.30pm Registration | 7pm Panel Discussion
AWA Office
Office No. 5, 11/F, Arion Commercial Center, 2-12 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan
Members: HK$200 | Non-members: HK$300*