Thank you to the curators of TEDxLPCUWC Youth for inviting me to speak at their TEDx event at Li Po Chun United World College yesterday! The event was filmed for broadcast by TED in the coming months. The best thing about doing a TEDx is meeting and listening to the other speakers interpret the same theme in their own unique way. The theme for this one was A Fractal of Perspectives, which meant the first thing I had to do was google ‘fractal’ and the second thing I had to do was google ‘how to use fractal in a sentence’. The speech kind of wrote itself from there.

I am so grateful to have had this experience that was inspiring, uplifting and often hilarious! Congratulations to all the organisers and volunteers who did such an incredible job and thanks to the amazing audience! This included my pal Philippe who had travelled all the way from DB to tell me “You only had to remember one thing: to stand in the big red box and you managed to screw that up!” I have never managed to stay in the box my entire life so this was apt.

Special thanks to the wonderful Joanna Jayalakshman Mohan for coming to the Women in Publishing Society‘s launch of Imprint 22 at the Hong Kong Int Lit Fest, which kickstarted my TEDx interlude, and for bringing it to a fitting conclusion with the following conversation:

Me: Hey, we should meet up for a drink some time!

Her: Sure, that would be great as soon as I turn 18!

Me: 😮

(If you want people to guess you’re underage, here’s a tip: don’t use words like ‘fractal’! I had just assumed they were young-looking PhD students!)

So, that’s how my first TEDx ended. Not with champagne but with the creeping realisation I had been caught corrupting a minor.

https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/56987

My third and final event of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2024 was the Women in Publishing Society‘s launch of anthology Imprint 22. I had an absolute blast reading my humorous short story The Snide Sniper to a rather well lubricated and very appreciative crowd at the Foreign Correspondents Club!

I am honoured to have had three very different pieces published in this year’s beautifully illustrated and meticulously edited anthology – The Snide Sniper, poem Barking Mad (along with a sketch of my beloved pooch Hobo) and a personal essay on how my neurodiversity (ADHD) can turbocharge my creativity but make me feel like a typo. You can purchase the book from the Lion Rock Press, Bookazine, Vibe and the FCC!

Congratulations to editor Carol Dyer, Polly, Gillian, Leslie, Rinkoo and all the WiPS team. Also to Joanna and Ursula for coming out to support what was an epic prelude to International Women’s Day!

The Hong Kong Writers Circle‘s launch of Lost in Transition at the Hong Kong Lit Fest has sold out a week after Poetry, Stories and Mental Health! This means I only have one lit fest event left where you can still grab a ticket! Please act fast to book for the Women in Publishing Society‘s launch of Imprint 22 at the FCC on 7 March! This one’ll cost you, but includes free wine or bubbles, a delicious buffet, two copies of the anthology per guest and a full evening’s entertainment at the FCC from 7-10pm, where I will be among the readers. Hope to see you there!

https://www.hkwips.com/event/launch-of-imprint-22 

The Women in Publishing Society‘s 2023-2024 anthology Imprint 22 is launching at the FCC as part of the 2024 Hong Kong International Literary Festival 7 March! Last year, I had the joy of performing Bake Fail at the HKILF 2023 launch of Imprint 21. This year, I’ve also been invited to read, although I haven’t yet decided what. Join me and the women with WiPS from 7-10pm at the FCC for another evening of fun and frivolity celebrating women’s voices!

https://www.hkwips.com/event/launch-of-imprint-22

https://www.eventbrite.hk/e/book-launch-imprint-22-womens-voices-tickets-823328446547

My dog has had his short tail published in the Women in Publishing Society‘s anthology Imprint 21. Despite being male. And a dog. His story is a restaurant review called The Foodie Poo. The anthology launched March 9 at the 2023 Hong Kong International Literary Festival and can be bought from Bookazine, Vibe, Lion Rock Press and the Foreign Correspondents Club, which hosted the event.

Thank you to editor Carol Dyer and the Women in Publishing Society for inviting me to read Bake Fail at the 2023 Hong Kong International Literary Festival launch of Imprint 21! It was the first time I had performed it in front of a live audience and I had a blast!

Bake Fail was published as A Piece of Cake by the South China Morning Post in 2022, which meant it couldn’t be included in the anthology, but you will find two of my other humorous short stories tucked inside; Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow from Sharp Pains, which broadcasted on RTHK, and a restaurant review by my poodle, Mojo, which I helpfully translated.

Imprint 21 is available from bookstores including BookazineLion Rock Press and Vibe. You can also pick up a copy from the FCC, where the event was held. Congrats to the Women with WiPS for putting on a cracking event and to the HKILF for curating such a literary feast! 

https://www.hkwips.com/2023/imprint-comes-of-age-at-the-fcc/

Excited to find out the 21st Women in Publishing Society anthology Imprint 21 will launch on International Women’s Day (March 9) at the FCC as part of the 2023 Hong Kong International Literary Festival! Two of my humorous short stories are among the contributions and I am excited to have been invited to read Bake Fail at the event! Bake Fail broadcasted as an episode of Sharp Pains on RTHK Radio 3 and was published by the South China Morning Post as A Piece of Cake in 2022.

Bake Fail was nominated for Moment of Comedy Gold by the 2022 International Women’s Podcast Awards and an Official Select of the 2022 On Air Fest in Brooklyn. Sharp Pains was also shortlisted for Best Comedy Program by the 2022 New York Festivals Radio Awards and some of the stories long-listed by the 2022-2023 Comedy Women in Print Prize. More festival updates soon!

The story behind this year’s HKWC anthology, A Book of Changes, has been a lot more dramatic than anything you are likely to read inside! Hats off to the editors who have somehow kept their sanity. My chocolate horror story, Toot, is a bit of a departure from the usual stuff I write and I am excited to see it in print! The anthology doesn’t officially launch until the 2023 Hong Kong International Lit Fest in March 2023 but will be uploaded to Amazon shortly before. Sneak peak of the cover art below!

Also launching in March 2023 is the Women in Publishing Society‘s anthology Imprint 21, which will be held at the Foreign Correspondents Club. A couple of my humorous short stories are buried deep inside, like splinters of smashed Heiniken bottles nestled amongst precious emeralds…

More anthology news TBA Nov 18!

2023 HKWC Anthology

Thanks to the Women with Whips, sorry WiPS, for giving me a cracking welcome to the Women in Publishing Society and plugging my writing, bake fails, and other obvious shortcomings on their Woman at Work platform! Can’t wait to whip up a frenzy of creative collaborations with these crazy, inspiring women! Just putting the final spit and polish (so far, just spit) on my submissions for this year’s Imprint anthology, Imprint 21, which will hopefully be launched (Covidy wavey things permitting) at an event at the FCC in November!