About this Event
Old Soul: A Haunting Thriller
Speaker: Susan Barker
Moderator: Margarita Oganyan
Date: March 8, Sun
Time: 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Venue: Fringe Club - Fringe Underground
Address: Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong
Price: HKD168
Language: English
Format: Talk
Description: In Old Soul, Susan Barker explores memory, obsession, and the unsettling persistence of the past in a world shaped by movement and desire. Blending psychological intensity with speculative unease, the novel travels across borders and time, tracing characters haunted by histories they cannot escape. In this author talk, Barker discusses the ideas behind Old Soul, her approach to atmosphere, voice, and form, and how questions of inheritance, identity, and survival thread through her work. She reflects on writing global settings, cultivating tension, and allowing ambiguity to do its work on the page. This conversation invites readers into a dark, hypnotic vision of contemporary life, where the past is never finished, and the future feels quietly unstable — and profoundly human stories.
About the Speaker:
Susan Barker
Susan Barker is the author of four books. Her third novel, The Incarnations (2015), was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and Notable Book, a Kirkus Reviews’ Top Ten Book of the Year, was shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction, winner of a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize and a Waterstones Bookclub pick. An excerpt from Old Soul (2025) won a Northern Writers’ Award for Fiction in 2020, as well as funding from Arts Council England and The Society of Authors. Susan currently lives in Manchester, where she is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
*This event is presented with the support of the International Writers’ Workshop at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Don’t miss our special offer: Buy 3, Get 1 Complimentary!
Purchase 3 tickets to any events under HKILF 2026 and claim a complimentary seat at one of these exciting talks at Central Library:
• 3rd March (Tue): On Muscle: The Stuff that Moves Us and Why It Matters (7:00-8:30pm)
• 4th March (Wed): I Deliver Parcels in Beijing (7:00-8:30pm)
• 5th March (Thu): Amitav Ghosh: Ghost-Eye (7:00-8:30pm)
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• Your 3 ticket order numbers
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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.
We are a registered charity non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing the best in the literary arts to Hong Kong. To find more, please visit our official website: https://www.festival.org.hk.
Please note that:
*We are unable to process refunds, please consider your ticket purchase a donation to the festival.
*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 disseminationthrough printed and online channels. Participation in the programme will constitute the participants’ consent to the above arrangement.
*The views and opinions expressed by the speakers do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Hong Kong International Literary Festival. HKILF disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information shared by the speakers.
*If the Black Rainstorm Warning or the Tropical Cyclone Signal No. 8 or above is in force 3 hours before the start time of an event, the event will be cancelled and participants will receive a refund. If the Red or Yellow Rainstorm Warning or the Tropical Cyclone Signal No. 3 is in effect, the event will be held as scheduled.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Fringe Club - Fringe Underground, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong
HKD 142.80 to HKD 168.00
