The 8th City Literary Award, which is being held under the theme Environmental Humanity, is now open for entries. Hosted by City University of Hong Kong (CityU), the competition is part of the City Literary Festival encouraging youngsters to participate in writing and promoting the literary culture of Hong Kong and Macau.

Environmental Humanity is also the theme of the City Literary Festival 2013, which will feature a writing competition, seminars and workshops. Professor Cheng Pei-kai, Director of CityU’s Chinese Civilisation Centre, said, “The spirit of humanity relates closely to environmental protection. It purifies people’s minds, narrows the gap between humans, and allows people to put more emphasis on protecting the environment. The conservation of the environment of humanity is also needed to maintain a harmonious relationship with nature.”

The 8th City Literary Award has once again received the staunch support of renowned writers and scholars: Professor Huang Ziping, Ms Zhang Yihe, Ms Han Liang-lou, Mr Li Rui, Mrs Shi Shu-ching, Mr Lawrence Pun Kwok-ling, Professor Jiau Tung, Mr Yip Fai, Professor Cheng Chou-yu, Mr Perry Lam Pui-li, Mr Xu Zhiyuan and Mr Liu Wai-tong.

The competition is open in four different categories: prose, short story, poetry, and art and cultural criticism. The top three winners of each category will receive cash prizes of $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000 respectively, and outstanding entrants will be honoured with merit awards.

The festival and the award competition are organised by CityU’s Cultural and Sports Committee, the Chinese Civilisation Centre, and the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics; jointly-organised by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, the Chinese Language Education Section of the Curriculum Development Institute at the Education Bureau, and Macao Foundation; and co-organised by the Putonghua Channel of the Radio Television of Hong Kong, Ming Pao Monthly, and Commercial Press Limited. Hang Seng Bank is the sponsor.

Students in tertiary institutions and youngsters between the ages of 15 and 24 in Hong Kong and Macau can submit their entries on or before 31 January 2013 (Thursday). The results will be announced in May 2013.

For details of the City Literary Festival 2013 and the City Literary Award, please visit www.ncm2.xyz/ctspc/literature or call 3442 8029.

Media enquiries: Christina Wu, CityU Communications and Public Relations Office (Tel: 3442 6819 or 9841 2774)

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