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All the fun of the fair for British authors

Thunderous applause and rounds of laughter filled the theatre of the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai yesterday evening as three celebrated British authors shared jokes and thoughts with an audience of more than a thousand at a forum at the Hong Kong Book Fair.

Authors Frederick Forsyth, Stephen Fry and Andrew Roberts took questions, on subjects ranging from the popularity of vampire-themed youth literature to writer's block, from an enthusiastic crowd at the forum 'How and What and Why do Writers Write?' moderated by entrepreneur and author David Tang Wing-cheung, who timed the authors' speeches with an hour-glass and made whimsical remarks on some of the questions.

Before hitting the over-crowded theatre where some fans had to sit on the steps, Tang and his author friends underwent a rehearsal for the forum at an entertaining press conference.

The authors, who were brought to town by Tang, said that they were impressed by the large crowd of young people turning up at the book fair, which attracted nearly a million visitors last year. Forsyth, author of acclaimed thrillers, pointed out that such an enthusiastic crowd should translate into a thriving business for writers.

The book fair has a reputation for being a great place to look for bargains, and has been criticised for not being high-brow enough, but Tang and the three authors dismissed such criticism.

'Mono culture is the last thing that you want,' said Fry, who is also a TV personality.

Pseudo-model Chrissie Chau Sau-na might have accidentally found an unlikely ally as Tang openly supported her kind. 'In a free society, I'm delighted to see people are doing what they want, and they are allowed to do it. [If] you don't want to buy [their] books then that's fine. Other people would,' said Tang. 'I think it's great that we have cultural diversity.'

As the iPad officially landed in Hong Kong yesterday, the authors were asked about the evolution of electronic books, which they said would have only a limited effect on them.

'I'll continue to collect books,' said Fry. He said that certain categories of reading, such as new books or non-fiction, might have a better chance of migrating to the electronic platform, but not every kind would follow suit. 'You have to feel the finger tip on the page,' he said.

Despite the changing times, the authors believed English literature would still play a dominant role in the world. 'English is the lingua franca ... whether you like it or not,' said Forsyth, to which Fry responded: 'We don't make anything any more ... It's basically what we have left ... that's why we are broke.'

The forum's second session is being held at the University of Hong Kong today.

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