Political drama sequels and reruns aplenty at this year's Book Fair

The city's political battles will reverberate at this year's Book Fair, when publishers release more books on current affairs than in previous years, written by both those in government and their critics.

Jimmy Pang Chi-ming, owner of publishing house Sub-Culture, even goes so far as to say that he expects 'this year's Book Fair to be the most political that the public has ever seen.

'There has never been a year when the chief executive election has been in the same year as the Legislative Council election. In addition, mainland China will also have a change in leadership. The books we are launching at the fair have very timely topics.'

One such book is Heng's Heartfelt Ties to his Country by Lau Sze-hong, about 10 secondary school pupils who went on national education tours to the mainland but returned believing that the purpose of the exercise was 'brainwashing.'

'There was no way we could have predicted that the topic of the national education curriculum would be so controversial right now. We decided at the last minute to print 3,000 copies instead of 2,000.'

Another book that Pang expects to be popular is Hong Kong Education is Dying - a compilation of viewpoints by academics, professors and secondary school teachers on the current state of the education sector.

Up Publications will release Rather Have One's Head Cut Than Turning Back, a memoir of June 4 activist Li Wangyang , who died suspiciously last month. Through photographs and poems, the book illustrates Hongkongers' respect for the man. All revenue will go to Li's sister.