A quick ring around local bookshops earlier this week in search of a new book revealed some striking differences in the quality of service on offer. The Service-With-A-Smile award goes to the lady from Swindon (Lock Road, Tsim Sha Tsui) who managed to be jovial even if she didn't have the book in stock. The Service-With-A-Grunt award goes to Bookazine (Prince's Building) where a staff member sighed audibly when I requested information. The Not-Until-I've-Finished-My-Breakfast award goes to Page One (Festival Walk); I called at 10.40am and was told to call back after 11am because they were not yet open. The Don't-Call-Us-We'll-Call-You award goes to HK Book Centre (Des Voeux Road) who took down my number and promised to get back to me but did not. Paddyfield, Dymocks and Jumbo were acceptably pleasant, but the overall winner is Kelly & Walsh (Pacific Place). Like all the other stores they didn't have the book, but it was the only place where the staff actually offered to order it for me. If you've had any particularly good or bad experiences at bookstores recently send me an e-mail - let's see which ones really care about readers.
They say that everyone has a book inside them and Dr Gillian Bickley of Hong Kong Baptist University will be helping authors learn how to write their own and other people's stories in a series of seminars on autobiography and biography writing. Books such as Gillian Bickley's The Golden Needle: The Biography Of Frederick Stewart, Verner Bickley's Searching For Frederick And Adventures Along The Way, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Laurie Lee's Cider With Rosie and Roald Dahl's Boy will be used as examples in a series of seminars. The next is on Thursday, then on October 25, 28, and November 4 and 12, from 6.30pm to 8pm at the English Speaking Union, the Helena May Club, Garden Road, Central. Places are limited for some sessions and attendees must sign up at least two working days before each seminar. Registration and inquiries: Eva Tang (tel: 2537 5133, fax: 2537 5122) or e-mail:
[email protected].
University of California anthropologist G William Skinner has written and edited numerous books, including Leadership And Power In The Chinese Community in Thailand and The City In Late Imperial China. On Wednesday he'll be speaking on the subject of Reproductive Goals And Family Strategies: Ethnic Differences In Southeastern China as part of the Barbara Ward Memorial Lecture series. The talk will be at 7pm in the Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, Hong Kong Museum of History, 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui. Seating may be limited. Skinner will also give a public lecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Friday. Contact Viki Li for further details, tel: 2609 6761, e-mail:
[email protected].
The Asian Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference 2002 will be held from November 14 to 16, at Fort Canning Lodge, Singapore. This biennial event brings together those involved with children's books and is organised by the National Book Development Council of Singapore. This year's keynote speakers include David Davidar, CEO of Penguin India and author of The House Of Blue Mangoes; Paul Yee, award-winning Canadian-Chinese children's book writer, and Dr Ruth Wong, associate professor at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. For full conference information, e-mail:
[email protected] or visit
www.nbdcs.org.sg.
Xinran Xue, author of The Good Women Of China: Hidden Voices, who spoke at the Fringe Club last month, has been shortlisted for non-fiction section of the Kiriyama Prize. A cash award of US$30,000 (HK$233,700) will shared by one fiction and one non-fiction book that contributes to a greater understanding of, and between, the peoples of the Pacific Rim. Winners will be announced on October 29. The full shortlist is at
www.kiriyamaprize.org
British novelist Will Self, whose book Dorian was nominated for this year's Man Booker Prize but didn't make the shortlist, says he has so little respect for the award that he was 'disappointed' to have even been on the original longlist of nominees. The BBC reports that Self called the Booker the 'Pets Win Prizes' award and said that 'winners were usually chosen because they were acceptable to a mass of people and confirmed prejudices rather than challenging them'.
