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PostMagCulture

This week in PostMag: from HKILF and new books to Zuma’s alumni

From Hong Kong to Marrakech, explore art and culinary success stories – and rediscover the joy of reading at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival

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This week’s PostMag delves into the world of books, exploring sensitivity readers, Hong Kong’s Japanese residents, success stories of Zuma’s alumni, and a writing retreat in Marrakech. Cover illustration: Kaitlin Chan
Cat Nelson

In what I expect isn’t an uncommon story for media types – or anyone picking up a print magazine honestly – I was an avid reader as a child. Shockingly, compulsory education didn’t beat it out of me. In fact, summer reading lists and 19th century literature courses were welcome havens from the indignity of precalculus, physics and econ. (Perhaps to my detriment, but that’s another story.)

For me, it was entering the workforce. Even in a profession of words, time to just read for pleasure evaporated. And that was before the deluge of social media with its memes, short-form video and infinite scrolling.

I wish I didn’t have to make time and space for reading, but that’s the reality. So the arrival of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF) next weekend is, in a way, luxurious. A whole week all about books. I even got a reading assignment – you’ll find me deep in the pages of Jake Adelstein’s Tokyo Noir (2024) and Asako Yuzuki’s Butter (2024) before their dinner on March 3.

This isn’t exactly a Lit Fest themed issue, but with all the great writers coming to town, it was impossible for them not to show up in the stories that follow. Our cover, bringing the world of books into a traditional kaifong stall, is illustrated by Hong Kong artist Kaitlin Chan, who will be speaking at the festival.

The “culture wars”, as they are, feel like they are at a fever pitch across the world. In this context, Jo Lusby explores the role of sensitivity readers in publishing. It’s an interesting proposition – should historical works be edited to fit the time? Marked with a trigger warning? What’s the line between sensitivity and censorship? She speaks with authors joining next week’s literary festival to understand how they grappled with these issues in their own work.
Fionnuala McHugh plunges into a new book on Hong Kong’s Japanese residents in the late 1800s. Inspired by Hong Kong Cemetery’s Japanese section, Meiji Graves in Happy Valley (2024), by Yoshiko Nakano and Georgina Challen, who will be leading a walk as part of the HKILF, uncovers the untold stories of those who were laid to rest there.
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