How better to open the first-ever Bookworm Suzhou International Literary Festival than by discussing truth in writing, and its myriad interpretations? Patrick Gale’s powerful new novel, Notes from an Exhibition, tells the story of an unconventional woman in an unconventional way. Patrick will be reading extracts from it, describing its genesis, and discussing how he finds the best way of conveying the emotional truth of a story can involve approaching it from multiple angles. Today, Bookworm audiences are presented with a rare opportunity to hear from this hugely talented writer, celebrated for his riveting, and profoundly affecting stories of family relationships surviving under adversity and societal pressure.

Claims about the negative and positive impact of the rise of China are made in the rest of the world every day. These will only escalate as we get closer to the Beijing Olympics in August. But what is the reality behind these often very divided claims? Is China an emerging superpower, or an unstable time bomb about to explode? This talk will try to make sense of the huge complexities of modern China through its economic development in the last three decades, highlighting some of the paradoxes, triumphs, and limitations of this unfinished story.

Come and hear three of Australia’s most talented contemporary authors discuss their work, their inspiration and their challenges.

Former Shanghai BBC bureau-chief Duncan Hewitt will discuss his book Getting Rich First, which looks at how individuals have coped with China’s extraordinary changes of the past two decades, focusing on subjects such as the impact of breakneck urbanisation in cities like Beijing, Shanghai – and Suzhou; the struggle for a more open media; China’s version of the sexual revolution; and the growing generation gap between a young generation hooked on reality tv, computer games and the internet - and parents and grandparents who lived through the austerity of the early communist years and the trauma of the Cultural Revolution.

Getting Rich First was serialized as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. The Sunday Times described it as “a brilliant insider’s account of the new China… tender and often shocking, full of telling portraits of people from all walks of life.”

Don’t miss this evening of writerly fisticuffs as two China-based writers discuss various writing styles and how to create “a sense of place”, a true geographical setting. In the blue corner, Londoner, history writer and champion of the working class, Paul French. In the red corner, head of Hong Kong's original colonial trading house, the refined yet dogged historical fiction writer Adam Williams. They’ll compare the pros and cons of Adam’s way, historical fiction, and Paul’s way – the non-fiction approach. Come and revel in a literary showdown between two proper old China hands. Two lively characters + one big literary theme = unmissable!

Strategically located at the mouth of the Yangzi River, Shanghai was the greatest trading city in the East in the 1930’s, hibernated for forty years after WWII and then came storming back at the end of the 20th century to become the world’s greatest trading metropolis. At one point a third of the cranes used in the construction of high-rise buildings around the world were in Shanghai. But this is only half the story. Shanghai is also one of the few cities in the world where the significant buildings from the 20’s and 30’s have not been demolished. It is an oasis of period architecture.

In Shanghai Architecture the reader is shown both sides of this amazing city in carefully researched and thoughtfully illustrated book. Covering 270 of the city’s buildings and places, both old and new, the guide is organised into nine areas with clear, original maps accompanying each. It includes essays on the history of Shanghai, biographies of architects and personalities, and insights into the city’s urban development. It is an essential introduction to the most dynamic city on earth.

An evening of poetry from Liz Niven, who reads from her collection 'Burning Whins', and from her China series which was recently awarded the McCash Prize for poetry.

Liz Niven has 20 years experience teaching poetry and creative writing at every level, and in venues ranging from Latvian chateaux, to air traffic control towers in the Scottish highlands. Tips, discussion and exercises on how to use your already rich life experiences as the basis for poetry and lyrics and, for more experienced writers, on how to improve your craft. Work can be submitted for consideration in advance.

Award-winning author Qiu Xiaolong was brought up in Shanghai and has lived in the United States since 1989. One of his books, Death of a Red Heroine, was voted among the top five political novels of all time by the Wall Street Journal. He will discuss his life as a best-selling writer, and his inspiration for his Inspector Chen series of mystery novels.

Nury Vittachi, Hong Kong's best selling English language author and literary maverick, shares secrets of his writing life with Suzhou.

Rob Gifford has been travelling back and forth between China, the US and the UK for the last twenty years. From 1999 to 2005, he was based in Beijing as China correspondent for America’s National Public Radio network. He has travelled widely throughout China and across Asia, reporting for the BBC, and for NPR. China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power, is Rob’s fascinating account of his journey across China, from Shanghai to the Khazak border, which was published in 2007. Developed from a radio series for NPR, it took him on a 4800km journey from the Bund in Shanghai to China's border with Kazakhstan. Documenting his interviews and chance encounters with Chinese citizens from across an amazingly varied spectrum including peasant farmers, Daoist monks, radio presenters, Uigyhr separatists, Christians and evangelical Amway sales reps, China Road paints a striking portrait of contemporary China.

Laurie Underwood shares insights from her international best-seller China CEO: Voices of Experiences From 20 International Business Leaders. The book, co-authored by Dr. Juan Antonio Fernandez, shares personal insights, advice, predictions, and survival tips from a wide spectrum of expatriate top executives succeeding in China. Join Laurie Underwood for an afternoon highlighting key findings from the book, and hear about her research for her next book, China Entrepreneurs.

Bernardine Evaristo, one of the hottest literary talents in Britain today, chats books, styles, influences and new projects.

Are you ready for Miles Merrill? Australia's most arresting performance poet drops his rhymes on Suzhou. A spoken-word tour de force, a performance poet who combines elements of theatre, hip-hop, slam poetry and music -- flinging words in a rapid fire onslaught of versified emotion. 

Born in Chicago, Miles Merrill is the son of a Black Panther father and a mother whose family tree dates back to British-American Colonialism. He is now resident in Australia.

Justin Hill has shaped his writing career around the fascinating locales in which he has lived, be it pre-civil war Eritrea, or deepest darkest Fuling as a VSO volunteer. Shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Award, and nominated as one of the Best Young British Novelists of 2003, come and hear what makes Justin Hill tick as a writer, where he finds his inspiration and why his seminal novel The Drink and Dream Tea House initially got him into such hot water…

Journalism can be a risky business in any locale but what are the specific challenges presented by working in China? Don’t miss the chance to hear some veterans of the craft discuss the ethical considerations a journalist faces, debate their professional challenges and share their adventures. 

Brought to you in cooperation with the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents’ Club.