The 14th Macau Literary Festival, also called the Script Road, will run from 21 to 30 March, emphasizing poetry and featuring a diverse lineup of international and Chinese authors. The festival returns to the Barra waterfront in Macao’s Inner Harbour, utilizing the Old Barra Slaughterhouse Site, and is partly sponsored by MGM Macau.
A highlight of the festival will be the debut Macao performance of the Lisbon Poetry Orchestra on 29 March, presenting The Surrealists with guest vocalist Xana of Rádio Macau. The concert will open with Poetry & Music, led by Anthony Tao, exploring the theme of “Writing Myth.”
Prominent poets include Xu Jinjin, a Shanghai-New York interdisciplinary artist and award-winner, alongside Valério Romão (Portugal), Zang Di and Jia Wei (Beijing), and local poets Chan Ka Long and Wang Shanshan.
The festival will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of Portuguese-speaking African countries’ independence. Photojournalist Alfredo Cunha will exhibit his work documenting this period, and João Ricardo Pedro’s novel, O Teu Rosto Será o Último, will be featured in the film adaptation by Luís Filipe Rocha. Former Portuguese Minister António Costa Silva will present his novel, Desconseguiram Angola, about Angola’s nation-building.
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Chinese literary figures include Chen Jining, a decorated novelist from Guangdong Writers’ Association. Non-fiction highlights feature British writer Paul French, presenting works on Wallis Spencer’s China sojourn and Macao’s history, as well as Tony Banham on the sinking of the Lisbon Maru, and Thomas DuBois on Chinese culinary history.
Children’s literature will be showcased through school visits by Chen Shige, a renowned children’s author, and illustrator André Letria. Hong Kong illustrator Sophia Hotung will also participate.
New Chinese and English translations of Maria Anna Acciaioli Tamagnini’s Lin-Tchi-Fá, Flor de Lótus will be released to mark its 100th anniversary. Photography exhibitions meanwhile include The Wind Blows on the Grassland by Wang Zhengping, and work by their disciple Rao Yongxia.
The festival will feature over two dozen talks, three exhibitions, a film cycle, workshops, and book launches, supported by the Macao SAR Government’s Culture Development Fund and other institutions. A detailed program will be published shortly.
