China Lit Fests Rapidly Approaching Again…Beijing’s Programme is Out
Posted: January 29th, 2011 | 2 Comments »March approaches and so Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Chengdu (and there’s one in Hong Kong too though not sure what’s happening down there these days) are gearing up for their lit fests. Beijing got its programme out first – click here – and you’ll note I’m doing a bit of moderating on March 9th with the excellent Michel Faber.
Plenty for all this year as Beijing becomes a bit of a mass arts festival with music and all manner of entertainment as well as the books and the bookish.
Dear Paul French
One book that probably won’t be at any China lit fest this year – because it’s China-critical – is my newly-released book which contends that despite the undoubted transformation of its economy, real, fundamental change has yet to arrive in the PRC.
“A lot still needs to be done,†said President Hu Jintao at his recent Washington press conference in response to a question on China’s human rights record. The comment, I assert in ‘Limp Pigs and the Five-Ring Circus’, could equally be applied to the Chinese media.
Based on a seven-year, insider involvement with the Chinese press, two of them in the gearbox of the state propaganda machine, the Xinhua News Agency, ‘Limp Pigs’ is an outspoken Chinese memoir-with-attitude arguing that if China was really changing, so would be its media. The fact that the media is still allowed to be nothing more than the mouthpiece of the state tells its own story.
I’d be very interested to receive your comments on the book and can provide a review copy and further information on request.
Thank you in advance for your interest and your time.
Mark Newham
Author bio brief: Mark Newham has been a journalist for some 30 years, beginning as a staff writer on London’s Financial Times before opting for a freelance career contributing to the Economist, the Observer, the BBC and a broad range of other media outlets.
A summary of the book and a sample chapter, plus more about the author, can be found on http://www.marknewham.com
“Spot on†is how the Guardian’s Beijing correspondent Tania Branigan has privately described the book’s central thesis.
Mark, you’re a touch paranoid about the China lit fests – none are government run. A wide range of authors speak with various opinions on China and none at all. If you’re interested in speaking drop me an email and I’ll introduce you to the organizers (Paul@accessasia.co.uk). Can’t say fairer than that.