International Writers “Coming To Our Senses” in Hong Kong Writers’ Circle Anthology
HKWC Embraces International Creators
With its tall, shiny buildings, high-end fashion boutiques and impersonal shopping malls, it’s easy to miss the fact that Hong Kong is also a center of culture and artistic creativity. And the Hong Kong Writers’ Circle (HKWC) has been attracting local and international, English-language authors for a long time.
Their 15th anthology of fiction and poetry was published in November of 2019, and brought together short stories and poems from over twenty authors from around the world.
The eclectic group of Hong Kong residents runs workshops and social events for the local writers community, in addition to releasing the anthology.
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Contributing writers came from so many places and backgrounds. Naturally, some were local Hong Kongers. But others were from the US, Australia, Sri Lanka and, of course, Indonesia, to name a few.
And some of the contributors were veteran writers, widely published and award-winning. Yet, others that had only limited writing experience or were never published were also invited to submit drafts for consideration.
This is how my short story, “More Than She Knew,” which I authored, came to be in the anthology. I was lucky enough to be attending a creative writing class at TCK Learning Center. When I learned of the opportunity from the director of the school and my teacher I decided right away that I should try.
I pulled heavily from my own experience, coming from Medan, Indonesia to Hong Kong. From my first hand-written draft to the final story there were many edits and changes. Thanks to my wonderful teacher, Becky K. Mitchell, editor Joy Al-Sofi, and other staff and writers, I learned so much about the process and have published a story that comes right from my heart.
Supporting Writers And Enriching Yourself
Once all the final stories and poems were submitted and approved, the staff and editor (who obviously volunteer out of love for writing and publishing) had more work to do with the publisher and printers.
Then, finally, the release of the newly published anthology was celebrated with author readings and support from a packed room of friends and family, as part of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival.
It was a wonderful experience that I was happy to share with other writers from TCK and the contributing authors of the anthology. I really enjoyed the excerpts they read, but then I was surprised and nervous to be unexpectedly asked up to also read.
All was fine in the end as the best part was sharing the experience with wonderful people — which is true in travel and life too! If you are interested and able to, please check out all the great writers in “Coming To Our Senses”!! Preview it at Amazon or buy it locally in Hong Kong, at any Bookazine location. Thank you!