Nury Vittachi is a literary force in Asia. The founder of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival and the Man Asia Literary Prize, he'll be participating in the "Writers' Cabaret", "Storytelling Secrets Workshop", "Fact and Fiction", and "A Literary Dinner with Nury Vittachi".

CW: Do you think there's a growing literary community in Asia/China/Beijing, or more specifically, a growing interest in literary events within the non-Chinese population or of English language literature?

NV: It's the quietest revolution in history. A small minority, hounded out of existence in the 1960s, has crept quietly back into existence in post-millennial China. Yes: the intellectuals are back.

Half a century ago, to own a well-stocked bookshelf was more or less a death sentence. Today, in 2008, intellectuals are reading widely, discussing literature, and even writing new-generation poetry and fiction. While reading literature has always been a minority habit, this is China: a place so populous that the term "tiny minority" can mean millions of people.

And while English-language literary festivals of the Western style are attracting a growing number of non-Chinese residents, Chinese locals are also getting hooked on books. Sales of the hot China-authored novel Wolf Totem, for example, are estimated at four million plus. The English language version is not out until March 2008.

CW: How does this compare to other literary festivals in Asia?

NV: Independent annual celebrations of literature are a relatively recent phenomena in Asia. The first annual, big-name festival in this part of the world was the Hong Kong one, started by Jane Camens and myself in 2000.In the following years, similar annual events started running in Shanghai, Bali, Beijing, Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

While all the festivals have the same basic format of panels and talk-shows featuring a variety of local and international authors, they are very different in character. Singapore's government-run festival (which runs every other year) and Hong Kong's bank-sponsored shindig are relatively rich, and produce fairly grand theatre-style events with multiple venues and a corporate feel. Many of the other festivals have smaller budgets and humbler venues, but use this to good advantage, with events which are more relaxed and creative. The festivals in Bali and Sri Lanka, for example, make good use of their exotic locations, with beautiful settings and a richly Asian feel.

The Bookworm festival may be smaller in scale than a number of the others, but I still love it. Since Asian literary festivals are a new concept, and Beijing is one of the "hottest" cities in the world to visit, I think it is actually one of the most attractive festivals in Asia for an author to be invited to. I've spoken to many big-name authors around the world who would love to come to Beijing.

CW: I read that you're involved in literary festivals all over Asia. Which festivals? Why do you go to them?

Interesting question. I enjoy all the Asian festivals, but also like to visit ones further afield: Byron Bay in Australia has a brilliant festival, and I have twice been invited to the world's biggest festival, which is in Edinburgh: they have 650 book-themed events!

Why do I support the Asian ones? You know, it annoys me that more than 60 per cent of the world's population is right here in Asia, but you and I and the rest of the people in Asia generate practically zero per cent of the world's popular culture. The vast majority of successful books, movies, CDs and so on are from the West.

I realized early on that we need to build the infrastructure for creative people in Asia to get their voices heard. First, I started a prose and poetry journal for writers in Asia, similar to the famous Granta journal in the UK. My journal started in 1999 and is now flourishing - the former editor of Granta is now advisory editor of the journal I started, which is called the Asia Literary Review. (www.asialiteraryreview.com) Then, we started the Hong Kong literary festival in 2000. In the ensuing years, we provided help and advice to other new festivals.

In 2006 I went to the board of the Man Group plc, financers of the Man Booker Prize, and pleaded with them for fund to start a prize for emerging authors in Asia. That project became the Man Asian Literary Prize for unpublished authors. At the moment, I am working on developing a major new prize for published authors in Asia, which will be announced this year.

I don't claim to have done all this by myself - I have a great gang of activist helpers -- but the so-called "literati" of Asia are a relatively small, interlinked group. Most of us pull together and help each other out to make these things happen.

Our latest project is an umbrella organization to help mentor writers in Asia. www.apwriters.com

CW: How did you become involved with the Beijing International Literary festival? Were you a speaker at the BILF last year?

NV: I have boundless admiration for the fantastic work that Alex Pearson and Jenny Niven do. I was thrilled to speak at their festival last year, and am delighted to have been invited back. The organizers of the Beijing Bookworm festival have been very smart. They don't have massive corporate or government backers, but they have made this into a positive thing - the festival feels organic, home-grown and "real". The Beijing team don't use grand theatrical venues, which means that events feel intimate - author and audience are inches apart. At huge festivals such as the Sydney Writers Festival, I'm wheeled on to a stage miles from the audience and then wheeled off again - I see nothing but darkness and spotlights. Compare that to the last time I was at the Beijing Bookworm festival, where I got to know many of my audience members by name, and went out to dinner with a few of them afterwards!

CW: Can you tell me about the events which you'll host/at which you'll be speaking? And what exactly is a "writers cabaret"?

NV: For detailed information about the sessions, you'll have to speak to Jenny. But I will be talking about my current novel series, the feng shui detective, and hopefully the latest one will be out: Mr Wong Goes West. The tales are about a Chinese geomancer and his Western assistant solving mysteries in China and elsewhere.

My books are not just stories, but are part of a personal mission for me. I am south Asian, I am married to a Westerner (and Englishwoman named Mary) and I have three adopted Chinese children. So bringing different cultures together is really important to me, and is a sub-theme of most of my books.

As for the writers' cabaret, authors often have a secret second talent -singing or dancing or telling jokes - and it's great fun to find out what these are and set them to work. Barbara Kingsolver is a great keyboard player, Stephen King is a guitarist, and Amy Tan sings.

CW: Any hopes or goals for the upcoming festival?

NV: My favourite part of any festival is telling stories to the children. I aim to give them a good laugh, but some of the things they say make me cry with laughter. Also, some of the best story ideas I've ever encountered come from sessions I do with children.