Hong Kong independent book fair offers publishers ‘safe space,’ even as gov’t inspections cast uncertainty over event
Hong Kong Free Press
The day before former district councillor Leticia Wong’s alternative book fair was supposed to open, she received a visit from the city’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD).
“I can’t confidently say that this event will make it all the way to this Sunday,” she told HKFP in Cantonese on Thursday, the opening day of the independent fair named From Publishing to Prosperity.
Wednesday’s visit was the latest in a string of inspections from various government departments over the past months, Wong said.
On June 4, the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, police officers visited Wong’s Hunter Bookstore and ordered that a sofa outside the entrance be removed, saying that it was blocking the street. Police made the same request on July 1, the 27th anniversary of the city’s Handover to China.
The FEHD went to Hunter Bookstore on the same day the city’s official book fair opened. The annual, large-scale event is organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), a statutory body focused on creating opportunities for the city’s businesses.
HKFP has reached out to the FEHD for comment.
“Whether it’s holding this book fair or running this store, our approach has been to play it by ear,” Wong said. “Under the current circumstances, it’s hard to say that we aren’t worried. The trauma from those inspections is definitely there.”
Independent bookstore Mount Zero shut its doors in April after a six-year run, citing a string of inspections by authorities following anonymous complaints.
Despite the circumstances, more than 10 bookstores and publishers had set up shop at Hunter on Thursday, twice as many as at last year’s event.
A safe space
Representing queer bookstore and community space Onebookhalf at the book market on Thursday, Erica – who identifies as non-binary and also goes by Erics – said the small-scale event could serve as a haven for the queer community.
“We are a community but we’re quite invisible. Most people might feel like they’re stepping on eggshells when they talk to us, so I think we should step up into the public sphere to talk about the queer community,” they said.
But Erica also pointed to reports of a conservative group that on Thursday protested the official book fair’s stocking of boys’ love or BL novels – a Japanese genre of fiction featuring same-sex male couples as its protagonists.
Local media reported that a group called Family Build in Love, which had previously protested Hong Kong’s hosting of the Gay Games, held banners outside the government headquarters in Admiralty saying that the novels amounted to “spiritual sexual assault” on children.
Safe spaces like the independent book fair were where the community could bring queer issues further into the public sphere at ease, Erica said.
“Our usual space at Foo Tak Building in Wan Chai is also considered a safe space,” they said. “Here, we can also speak freely in the company of people who are accepting of who we are.”
Political titles
Books on politics have been increasingly seen as sensitive in the wake of library purges and the passing of security legislation. This year’s Hong Kong Book Fair and Hunter’s independent offering are the first to be held since a domestic security law, known colloquially as Article 23, came into effect in March.
At a press conference last month, the HKTDC did not respond directly to questions as to whether it had a list of banned books. Deputy executive director Sophia Chong said exhibitors should comply with local laws, including the national security law and Article 23, and that all exhibitors understood that requirement.
But many books could be construed as “political,” Wong said, pointing to a guide on Hong Kong’s judicial system referencing political court cases over the past years released by court news outlet The Witness.
The book was on sale at both the official and independent book fairs, with copies at the HKTDC-run fair selling out within two days of it opening.
On Friday, Leanne Liu of Boundary Bookstore, which was exhibiting at the official fair, told HKFP that the HKTDC had ordered it to remove three titles from its booth, with the council citing complaints about “sensitive” content.
Liu did as requested. The books in question included one about families that have left Hong Kong and another about media ethics by Allan Au, a veteran journalist who was arrested for allegedly publishing seditious materials but released without charge.
HKFP has reached out to the HKTDC for comment.
Dirty Press was one of the publishers whose books were consigned for sale at the Hong Kong Book Fair, under independent publishers Bbluesky and Boundary Bookstore, both of which had also set up stalls at Hunter’s market.
The publisher had on display a memoir of indie musician and critic Wong Chun-kwok’s musings on different countries’ DIY music scenes from time spent on tour with his band Remiso in Southeast Asia, as well as a commentary on Hong Kong’s Art Basel by veteran critic Anthony Leung.
Publishers at the independent fair also noted the impact of a recent exodus on the industry, with some noting that many who had left the city had gone to Taiwan, where the publishing scene was far more vibrant.
“There are creators within the publishing supply chain such as booksellers, printing companies, editors, or writers who have moved out of Hong Kong, so the local publishing scene has lost a lot of talent,” said Kwan Yi, a book editor who attended the fair, in Cantonese.
“But perhaps there’s a good side to this. Friends who are leaving Hong Kong might stock up on books on, say, Hong Kong history to read when they are away,” Yi added.
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