The Taipei International Book Exhibition next week is to feature acclaimed children’s book authors from various countries, as well as renowned Taiwanese illustrator Jimmy (幾米) and comic artist Ruan Guang-min (阮光民), the organizer announced yesterday.
The organizer, the Taipei Book Fair Foundation, arranged a number of “stargaze” themes featuring domestic and foreign star creators for this year’s event, which is to take place from Tuesday to Sunday next week.
The delegation from the Netherlands — the guest of honor — is to include the first Dutch author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novelette Thomas Olde Heuvelt, author of the bestselling novel Grand Hotel Europa Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, contemporary thinker Maxim Februari, “Dutch literary talent of 2019” Radna Fabias and more, the foundation said.
Photo: CNA
Other international authors participating include Alexander Pantsov from Russia, a history professor specializing in modern Chinese history; Cheon Seon-ran from South Korea, a rising star in science fiction; Gou Tanabe from Japan, a manga artist known for his adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft’s works; Bijan Moini from Germany, a human rights expert, lawyer and writer; and hairdresser and writer Danny Beuerbach, also from Germany, it said.
With a star-studded list of children’s book authors and graphic book creators, the event is not only for literary lovers, but also children, and is family-friendly, it said.
Japanese masters Gomi Taro, Miyanishi Tatsuya and Noritake Suzuki; South Korean illustrator Suzy Lee; and Canadian illustrator Sydney Smith are to share their works at the event, while Polish picture book authors Iwona Chmielewska is to hold a painting workshop for children on Sunday, it said.
Famous Taiwanese creators participating include Jimmy, Sean Chuang (小莊), Ruan, Chang Sheng (常勝) and Hambuck (漢寶包), it said, adding that Jimmy is to hold a recital and book signing activity on Saturday.
The event also features many big names in Taiwan’s literary world — Wu Ming-yi (吳明益), Pai Hsien-yung (白先勇), Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), Huang Chun-ming (黃春明), Chu Tien-hsin (朱天心), Chen Bo-ching (陳?青), Ma Hsin (馬欣), Gan Yao-ming (甘耀明) and Sabrina Huang (黃麗群), it said.
Influencers have enjoyed enormous popularity at the book exhibition in recent years, it said.
YouTuber “Retina” (視網膜) is to join in a dialogue with Tokyo-born travel writer Kengo Kobayashi on the latter’s new work and the cultures of Taiwan and Japan on Saturday, and graphic creator and YouTuber “weiteng” (微疼) is to hold a fan meeting on Sunday, it said.
The organizer also invited celebrities who crossed over into the literary world to share their unique experiences.
Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min (彭政閔), former star player of the professional baseball team the Brother Elephants, is to talk about a comic based on his life story on Friday and Pegatron Corp chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) is to share his memories of Taiwanese poet Yang Mu (楊牧) on Wednesday, it said.
Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) is to talk about his newly published autobiography on Sunday and master lyricist Lin Xi (林夕) is to share his philosophy on life on Saturday, it added.
Several mystery, detective and fantasy authors are to take part in the event, including Hu Hsuan (護玄) and Ji Qing (既晴) from Taiwan as well as Chen Hao-ji (陳浩基) and Albert Tam (譚劍) from Hong Kong, it said.
The schedule of all the activities and the guests is on the event’s Web site at www.tibe.org.tw.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to