Book Fair

When COVID-19 scuttled her plans to open a restaurant in Hong Kong, food-focused entrepreneur Simran Savlani switched to authoring and sauce-making, resulting in the publication of her first vegetarian cookbook, A Spark of Madness, and the launch of a sauce range under the Spark name. Taiwan-born but a long-time Hong Kong resident, Ms Savlani had already switched careers to follow her passion – and she explained how it all came about.

This month, one of the Hong Kong’s longest-running and most popular cultural events is officially part of celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region – and is also the first major event to open to the general public following the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city.

As the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) turns 25 and celebrates its silver anniversary, the city is arranging a wide range of festivities. These include one of the city’s most enduring cultural events, the HKTDC Hong Kong Book Fair, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), which will run from 20 to 26 July at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

Bestowing high praise on historians and biographers, British author Oscar Wilde said: “Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.” And renowned American science fiction writer Robert Heinlein once said: “A generation which ignores history has no past – and no future”.

Big-tent exhibitions have staged a spectacular comeback in Hong Kong as one of the city’s flagship events, the HKTDC Hong Kong Book Fair, drew more than 830,000 visitors, near the one million-plus total achieved in recent years before the outbreak of COVID-19.

As a cosmopolitan city with a thoroughly educated, well-travelled and world-wise population, Hong Kong has many voracious readers eager to stock up their bookshelves. A highlight in any Hong Kong bookworm’s calendar is the city’s annual festival of literature, the HKTDC Hong Kong Book Fair, which is returning soon.