About this Event
Speaker(s): Ian Gill
Event details
Date: 9 March (Saturday)
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Price: $198
Language: English
Format: Book Launch
Category: Chinese History
Speaker Biography:
Ian Gill was born in New Zealand, the child of his parents’ war-time romance in a Pr*son camp in Hong Kong. He was raised by his single mother Billie, spending his early years in England, China and Thailand before being educated in boarding schools and university in England. He was a journalist for 20 years, previously working in Hong Kong for Asiaweek and Insight, and in Singapore for the Asian Wall Street Journal. This was followed by a 20-year career with the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, writing and producing documentaries on development in the Asia-Pacific region. He is the author of Searching for Billie: A journalist’s quest to understand his mother’s past leads him to discover a vanished China, and is currently writing a series of true-life mysteries. Ian and his wife Jean have two adult children.
Event Description:
Ian Gill was born in New Zealand, the child of his parents’ war-time romance in a Pr*son camp in Hong Kong. He was raised by his single mother Billie, spending his early years in England, China and Thailand before being educated in boarding schools and university in England.
Ian Gill will take us on a journey of discovering his own family in Searching for Billie: A journalist’s quest to understand his mother’s past leads him to discover a vanished China. Ian’s first visit to Hong Kong in 1975 takes an unexpected turn when he meets his Chinese mother Billie’s friends, colleagues and fellow ex-prisoners of war, lifting the veil on a tumultuous past in Hong Kong and Shanghai. He moves to Asia and unravels her intriguing journey: from controversial adoption by an English postmaster in Changsha to popular radio broadcaster in wartime Shanghai, from tragedy and a doomed romance in a Japanese internment camp to being decorated by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the United Nations. He discovers a great-grandmother in a determined English farm girl who ends up owning a well-known hotel in China in the 1870s – and he finally meets his father for the first time on a Canadian island in 1985.
*Please note that photos and videos of participants may be taken during the activities,which may be used by the organiser and the major sponsor for educational and promotional purposes in any way deemed appropriate, including dissemination through printed and online channels. Participation in the programme will constitute the participants’ consent to the above arrangement.
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ABOUT HKILF
The Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF) inspires the joy of reading by bringing the world’s writers and stories to Hong Kong’s diverse communities. A dynamic year-round programme and an annual festival offer dialogue, entertainment and perspective, while the Young Readers Festival (YRF) motivates students to engage with all aspects of the written word, improving communication skills, while nurturing the art of writing and storytelling.
The annual festival features established and emerging writers from around the world, alongside local literary talents, in a programme that includes panel discussions, book talks, readings, workshops, walks, school programmes, performances, and more.
To find more, please visit our officail website: https://www.festival.org.hk/
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Jockey Club Studio Theatre, Fringe Club 藝穗會, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
HKD 198.00