Our picks of the best authors hitting up the Shanghai International Literary Festival this year

There are a staggering 51 authors squeezing their talks and books into three straight weekends from March 5-21 this year (with the exception of seven authors, who are to liven up four week days). Here are our picks of six authors who we suspect will pack in the crowds–and keep them.

The most notable name on this year's list is Su Tong, one of China's best-selling, internationally recognized and critically acclaimed writers. Su rocketed to international fame when the film adaptation of his novel Raise the Red Lantern was nominated for an Oscar in 1993. In his many short stories and novels, Su deftly captures the darker facets of humanity.

His provocative characters struggle with overweening ambition, disturbing acts of violence, insatiable desires and, often, deadly domestic rivalries. He most recently won the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize, the region's top honor, for his novel The Boat to Redemption. Su will be speaking on inspiration, memory and childhood at SILF (Sat., Mar. 13, 5pm).

Another well known Chinese author (and screenwriter) is Bi Feiyu, a man intriguingly called "China's best male writer on the female psyche", a topic he'll be discussing at SILF (Sun., Mar. 7, 4pm). Bi is the two-time winner of the Lu Xun Literary Prize, co-scriptwriter of the international award-winning film Shanghai Triad and author of acclaimed novels Moon Opera and Three Sisters. His writing has been described as a confrontation between "the individual and history, both personal and collective."

Dominican-American fiction writer Junot Diaz, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, will discuss something familiar to us expatriates–the eternal quest for home (Sun., Mar. 7, 5pm). His novel is about a Dominican-American immigrant family, and jumps seamlessly between the past and present. It's not your typical immigrant story–to quote the New York Times' noted book critic Michiko Kakutani (as we couldn't have put it half as well): "[the book is] so original, it can only be described as Mario Vargas Llosa meets Star Trek meets David Foster Wallace meets Kanye West."

Moving into the non-fiction realm, meet Ramachandra Guha, touted by U.S. magazine Foreign Policy in 2008 as one of the world's top 100 public intellectuals (he placed 44th). Guha is known as an Indian social, environmental and cricket historian, academic and biographer, and is a columnist for several Indian newspapers. Author of India After Gandhi , he'll be speaking on why Gandhi matters to India and the world, moderated by Edward Luce, a VP at the World Bank, the Washington bureau chief of the Financial Times and author of In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India (Sun., Mar. 14, 1pm).

Another author delving into the world of environmentalism is geopolitics expert Charles Emmerson, a former World Economic Forum associate director and head of the Global Risks team, now an adviser on international affairs. His talk is about his debut book, The Future History of the Arctic (out Mar. 4), on how the Arctic is at the center of the future's issues– energy security, the struggle for natural resources, climate change–and all the political consequences that will come with it (Sat., Mar. 13, 1pm).

Lastly, there is the respected war correspondent Asne Seierstad, of internationally bestselling, critically acclaimed and controversial Bookseller of Kabul fame. The book recounts her time living with an Afghan family in Kabul after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. After it was the published, the bookseller accused her of misrepresention. At SILF, she'll discuss "the human side of catastrophes" in Chechnya, Serbia, Afghanistan and Iraq (Sat., Mar. 6, 3pm).

If you feel that we've missed someone, keep on reading. We have four more pages of great authors, great talks. Also check out our write-up of all the children's book authors hitting town.

All sessions are ¥65 (includes a drink) and at The Glamour Bar, with the exception of Bi Feiyu, whose session is in the Crystal Room at M on the Bund

Author Interviews:

Peter Hessler

Alice Pung

Authors To Watch

Maybe you've heard their names, maybe not, but these authors are making their mark on the literary scene

* Jose Dalisay: Why You've Probably Never Heard of Me (And Other Filipino Writers

Dalisay’s works are deeply rooted in his heritage. He has won many awards and prizes for fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction and screenplay. His novels, including Soledad’s Sister (shortlisted for the 2007 Man Asian Literary Prize), focus on the struggles of the modern day Filipino. His non-fiction works serve to highlight underrepresented Filipino writers.

Crystal Room at M on the Bund, Sunday, March 14, 2pm, ¥65

* Rachel Kushner: Telex from Cuba

Kushner has written on a variety of subjects, including contemporary art and colonialism. Her first novel (2008 National Book Award finalist), explores the American sugar cane and nickel mining colony in Cuba in the years before Castro’s takeover. The global issues of colonialism meld seamlessly with the personal struggles of individual families in this historical novel.

Crystal Room at M on the Bund, Saturday, March 13, 4pm, ¥65

* Mo Zhi Hong: The Year of the Shanghai Shark

Mo’s diverse background– he grew up in Singapore, Taiwan, Canada, China and the U.S. and lives in New Zealand–inspired the subject matters in his debut novel (2009 Commonwealth Writer’s Best First Book for South East Asia and Pacific award), which describes post-'80s China and touches on a wide range of issues, including the SARS epidemic, the Iraq war, and a culture in transition.

Crystal Room at M on the Bund, Saturday, March 20, 4pm, ¥65

* James Palmer: The Bloody White Baron

Historian, travel and environmental writer Palmer's debut book is a biography of the German Baron Ungern- Sternberg, an unstable, violent, fervent anti-Semitic and anti- Communist who converted to Mongolian Buddhism. That's not the strange part. He actually briefly ruled Mongolia in 1919 with a ragtag army comprised of White Russians, Japanese, Siberians and native Mongolians.

The Glamour Bar, Sunday, March 21, 3pm, ¥65

* Tash Aw: A Malaysian Author Offers a Postcolonial View of Colonial Asia

The Malay-Chinese Aw was raised in Malaysia and did his higher education in Britain. His debut novel, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005 Whitbread First Novel Award, Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Novel, long-listed for the Man Booker Prize) made him one of the most respected writers in Southeast Asia. His second, Map of the Invisible World, came out in May 2009.

The Glamour Bar, Sunday, March 21, 3pm, ¥65

Talking Points

There are more panel discussions this year than ever. Check out what's on offer

* The Second Annual Financial Times Debate: Will China Be a Superpower by 2020?
James Kynge, Edward Luce, Gillian Tett, and John Authers

A panel of experts disputes China’s present and near future global position. Edward Luce is a vice president at the World Bank and its former lead economist for South Asia. Gillian Tett is an assistant editor at the Financial Times (FT) and oversees the global coverage of the financial markets. James Kynge is editor of China Confidential, a research service on China at the FT. John Auther is the FT’s investment editor.

The Glamour Bar, Sunday, March 14, 5pm, ¥65

* Framing Queer Asia: Cultural and Legal Perspectives
John Erni, Lucetta Kan and Zhou Dan discuss culture, community, sexuality and legality in Gay Asia

While Western cities such as San Francisco and Amsterdam are renowned “gay” cities, not much is known about gay Asia. What are the traditional and current perceptions of homosexuality in Asia? Listen as Zhou Dan, scholar, lawyer and one of the leading voices for gay and lesbian rights in Chinese mainland, John Erni, Professor of Cultural Studies of Hong Kong's Lingnan University and others discuss "gay-sian" culture.

The Glamour Bar, Saturday, March 6, 5pm, ¥65

* Road Scribes: Tales from the Asian Road
David Leffman and Garry Marchant

Rough Guides' adventurous author David Leffman knows China, Australia, Iceland, Hong Kong, Macau and Indonesia well enough to write books on them. Oh wait, he did. Leffman teams up with Garry Marchant, a journalist who has traipsed through more than 240 countries and recently published a book detailing over three decades of travel tales around Asia The Peace Correspondent, to lead a panel centered on what they know best and love most: travel in Asia.

The Glamour Bar, Thursday, March 11, 6pm, ¥65

* Northern Lights: Nordic Literature, Smørrebrød & Aquavit
Lars Bukdahl, Riitta Jalonen, Asne Seierstad and Sjón

Enjoy a traditional lunch of smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches) and aquavit (a distilled spirit infused with herbs and spices) with authors from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland, whose works span poetry, young adult, children, journalism and fiction (Sjón even wrote lyrics for Björk). Discuss Nordic literature, identity and a global perspective on Nordic writing. Moderated by Rebecca Albinus.

Crystal Room at M on the Bund, Saturday, March 6, Noon, ¥188

SILF Tips

Want the full festival experience? Here are our insider tips

* Podcasts

If you can’t make a talk, check out City Weekend’s website for a complete–yes, complete–database of every talk at the Literary Festival. The best part? It’s free. While you're there, take your time to browse the podcasts from last year.

* Bathroom breaks

Don’t fret if you simply can’t hold it any longer. Bathrooms at The Glamour Bar are well equipped with speakers, making sure that there are no breaks in the talk, even as you take one. Unfortunately, the Crystal Room at M on the Bund doesn’t have the same useful touch.

* Live blogging

That annoying person tapping away at his / her laptop at every Literary Festival event? Yup, that's us–blogging the entire talk live. Drop by and say hello, and feel free to bring along some chocolate. Find timed transcripts of all the talks online.

* Buying books

If you're looking to buy a book by a SILF author for him / her to sign post-talk, head over in advance to the makeshift bookstore (courtesy of Chaterhouse and only open during festival time) across from The Glamour Bar entrance. Popular titles were sold out very quickly last year.