The Proverse Publishing Parade was held on 22 November at the Helena May, 35 Garden Road, when Gillian Bickley of Hong Kong-based publishers, Proverse Hong Kong, announced the Finalists for the International Proverse Prize 2011 and launched nine books which had been entered for the Proverse Prize of 2009 and of 2010. See: http://proversepublishing.com.
Exhibition of member's paintings in Central Gisèle Tchitchiama held her first Hong Kong exhibition, "De sources et de vies" (Sources and Lives), at the Culture Club Gallery, 15 Elgin Street, Soho, Central (www.cultureclub.com.hk) in October/November 2011. Gisèle is a French artist now living in Hong Kong. She has previously held exhibitions in France, and images of two of her paintings appear in Imprint Issue 10.
Members' book gets a mention in the Financial Times of London In its Life & Arts pages of 3/4 September 2011 the Financial Times briefly reviews the KidsGo! range of guidebooks. Written by Mio Debnam, illustrated by Tania Willis and published by Dania Shawwa at Haven Books, the books are the work of a triumvirate of talented WiPS members. One of Tania's illustrations is pictured in the article. The article was spotted by another WiPS member flying from Milan to London. www.kidsgotravelguides.com.
Book illustrations on show at Kapok Gallery Tania Willis' exhibition of her illustrations from the KidsGo! travel guides series were on display in July 2011 at Kapok, 3 Sun Street, Wanchai. Written by Mio Debnam and published Dania Shawwa at Haven Books, the series was published at the end of June. Tania cites this as another successful example of WiPS matchmaking at work and also thanks WiPS members for their kind and generous advice regarding potential exhibiting spaces.
Graduation at London's Guildhall One month after celebrating her 75th birthday, WiPS member and former Hong Kong resident Diana Dennis graduated on May 17 at the Guildhall in London with a master's degree in non-fiction creative writing, an occasion which has gained her media coverage. An edited version of one chapter of the manuscript Diana submitted for her degree is included in Imprint Issue 10. Diana is now working with an editor/literary agent in London to have the manuscript, a memoir of her husband's life, published.
Imprint discussed on RTHK Radio 3 Interviewed on Sarah Passmore's Naked Lunch programme on 13 May 2011, Brooke Richter and Carol Dyer talk about Imprint's rising success. http://programme.rthk.org.hk/channel/radio/programme.php?name=radio3/naked_lunch&d=2011-05-13&p=3189&e=&m=episode
Hit Listen and scroll to 34.00.
The Book Attic has recently reopened in Central Owned by WiPS member Jennifer Li, this delightful shop offers an excellent collection of previously owned quality books. If you are in the area, drop in for a chat and a browse. If your own shelves are already filled with books you have read, Jennifer will take selected titles from you. The shop is at 2 Elgin Street (1/F) just above the junction with Hollywood Road. Look up for the shop sign! You enter through a metal door at street level. Hours: Noon to 6 pm, Monday to Saturday. Website: www.bookattic.info.
The Heart of the Buddha, Elsie Sze's second novel, set in Bhutan and published in the United States in 2009, is being republished by an Indian publisher under their imprint for distribution and sale in the Indian subcontinent. This includes Bhutan - fulfilling the author's dream to make the book more available to the Bhutanese people.
Of Symbols Misused (Proverse Hong Kong) by Mary-Jane Newton was released in March 2011. Much of the variety in Of Symbols Misused is touched by man's existential dilemma as a self-conscious being obliged to live his sunniest moments in the shadow of death and construct meaning in the maw of absurdity. Engaging with this dilemma, the poetry collection explores the elucidations and complications engendered by words as the primary tools of man's efforts to tell a story about himself. Also available online at Amazon.
The Silent Monument, Shobha Nihalani's latest book, was released in December 2010 by TARA Press, Delhi. The thriller is set in India and based on characters which resonate with the local culture, and has quite a few twists in the plot. It's available in bookstores in the major cities around India and online at www.uread.com.
Footbinding Reviewed Dr Shirley See Yan Ma's book: Footbinding: A Jungian Engagement with Chinese Culture and Psychology. London and New York, Routledge, 2010, received an impressive and thought-provoking review from Judith Cooper of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts (Journal of Analytical Psychology, 2011, 56, 139). If you read the review you will certainly want to read the book!
The House on Mall Road (Penguin, India) is the debut novel by former Hong Kong resident Mohyna Srinivasan and was released in January 2010 to great acclaim. The now Mumbai-based writer previously worked at Unilever in Hong Kong before ditching full-time work to focus on her craft.
