Australian Writers' Week - Christopher Kremmer

The Australian Writers' Week wraps up this afternoon with a session from Australian journalist Christopher Kremmer at The Bookworm. Born in Sydney, Kremmer has spent much of his life exploring Asia and writing about the region. A former South Asia and Vietnam correspondent for the ABC, he's written three books about Asia: Bamboo Palace, The Carpet Wars, and, most recently, Inhaling the Mahatma. All three books are currently available at the Bookworm. Tickets are still available for today's talk.

For those reading the blog from Chengdu you can also head over to the Chengdu Bookworm at 7.30pm tonight to see Ouyang Yu and Nicholas Jose talk about writing in Australia and China. Former that's Beijing staff writer Alice Liu, who now works with the Guardian newspaper, caught up with Ouyang Yu earlier in the week to ask him some questions about the writers' festival.

tbjblog: How do you feel about being the bilingual and bi-cultural representative that you are? If you could describe this.

Ouyang Yu: I'm very comfortable with being bilingual. As i wrote in a poem, I'm a person of two hearts and two tongues.

tbjblog: How do you think this has translated into your literary work and other work?

Ouyang Yu: Being bilingual helps transform my work into something that combines the best of both, cultures and languages.

tbjblog: What do you plan to speak about at this month's Australian Writers' Week

Ouyang Yu: I'll speak about my experience as a bilingual poet and make comments on Australian literature in china.

tbjblog: When you were young, what did you dream about (free for you to interpret in any way you wish!)

Ouyang Yu: I don't remember what my dreams were when i was young, but going abroad and seeing the rest of the world was certainly one of them.

tbjblog: What are your hopes for China as it expands both economically and also in terms of it's global influence? Where do you see yourself in this culture?

Ouyang Yu: Yhe tremendous change that has taken place in China is amazing. I hope that there'll be more equality and press freedom to accompany these changes.

Mar 14
Book Talk: Christopher Kremmer

Christopher Kremmer is one of Australia's best-known travel journalists, with books covering the Middle East (The Carpet Wars), Southeast Asia (Bamboo Palace) and India (Inhaling the Mahatma). For more information about the literary festival see the official festival site. Follow this link for details about the 2008 Australian Writers' Week. RMB 50.

12.30-1.30pm. The Bookworm (6586 9507)