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Lee Wing-Sze

IT IS NOT easy for non-profit online publications to survive in today's world, but the literature Web site, Sparks, is proving to be an exception.

Sparks is succeeding where others have failed because it is meeting its advertised monthly deadlines.

The Chinese literature Web site (www.fed.cuhk.edu. hk/young _lit), established in November 2000 by 12 avid student writers from local secondary schools, has published its past 26 issues on time - on the first day of every month.

In every issue, about 40 to 50 creative articles, from fiction to non-fiction, poetry, memoirs and interviews, are featured.

With encouraging responses from local, mainland, Taiwan and overseas Chinese-speaking students, the site has had almost 90,000 hits up to now.

It all began when Professor Ho Man-koon from the Faculty of Education of the Chinese University of Hong Kong promoted the idea of a literature Web site to young writers who had taken part in his online training scheme.

One of the Web site's founders, Catherine Leung Chung-ming, 18, from Diocesan Girls' School, said: 'We love literature and creative writing, so we thought it was a good idea to set up a Web site as a channel for us to meet other people with the same interest, and as a way of releasing our writings.'

Each month, members take turns to be the editor and deputy editors of the Web site, responsible for collecting good articles and checking and editing the writings before they are published.

Another founder, 19-year-old Chu Man, from St Catharine's School For Girls, said the quantity and quality of the articles were what they were concerned about, adding that widening their source base was a way to do it.

At the beginning, they sought interesting articles from members as well as schoolmates. Later on, they invited readers to contribute.

During the first year, the 12 founders were the only ones maintaining the site. To expand it, they started recruiting deputy editors from secondary schools.

'We sent letters to the principals of all local secondary schools, asking if they could recommend outstanding student writers or literature enthusiasts to us,' said Chung-ming, the chairperson of the Web site committee.

Now, into its third year, the site's team of student writers has expanded to 30.

As well as the publication, the site organises literature-related activities. Last year, there was a study tour to Shanghai and sessions with authors. And the committee is planning to invite well-known authors to hold a series of talks in the coming year.

'We hope to promote literature and raise students' interest in the subject,' Chung-ming said, adding that they would continue to organise interesting activities.

'We named the site Sparks because we believe it can spark interest in literature and writing among young people.'



Literary inspirations