DISCUSSIONS ABOUT Chinese writing will be a highlight of this year's Hong Kong Book Fair.
Huang Zi-ping, who trained in Beijing and is now teaching in the Chinese department of Hong Kong Baptist University, will speak at a forum on Saturday entitled 'Chinese literature of the 21st century'.
The number of people learning the Chinese language around the world was increasing steadily, said Professor Huang, who has written on literary connections between revolution, history, religion and literature.
'It is encouraging that the volume of writing in Chinese is growing. There is also an increase in the number of global-wide Chinese writing awards.'
The professor pointed out that diary-style blog writing on the internet also played a role in the development of contemporary Chinese writing.
Professor Huang believes that Chinese writers lack ambition in writing 'a grand Chinese novel' in the tradition of American or Indian writing. He made this comment when talking about Chinese-American novelist Ha Jin and his critics. He added that it was a matter of vision and aim on the part of writers.