Department of Cultural Affairs

By Yali Chen
STAFF REPORTER

The 2012 Taipei Literature Festival kicks off February 11 and will run until May 27, Liu Wei-gong, Commissioner of Taipei City's Department of Cultural Affairs, said at Kishu An Forest of Literature off Tongan Street in Taipei City's Zhongzheng District.

The three-and-a-half-month event features a wide variety of programs including an exhibition of literary works from 1944 to 2004, sixteen literary lectures, an exhibition of black and white photographs on domestic writers, three literary tours, and ten films.

Ying Feng-huang, one of the Taipei Literature Festival curators, says that a total of 250 books will be showcased from March 16 to April 1 at Zhongshan Hall.

"The exhibition titled 'Writer's First Book' offers a good way to better understand famed writers such as Pai Hsien-yung, Wang Wen-xin, Li Ao, Li Ang, and Lung Ying-tai, as well as the history of Taiwanese literature," Ying notes.

Besides books, the three literary tours from April 7 to May 20 reveal layers of Taipei's history. Readers can join the free trips guided by Liu Ke-hsiang – a well-known ecological writer and bird lover.

Liu will introduce readers to Treasure Hill Artist Village, the former veterans' community along the Xindian River in the Gongguan area; the MRT Red Line and Ri Xing Type Foundry, one of the last that still makes Chinese lead type characters in the traditional way; and Yangmingshan National Park just north of the city.

The 10 films, all adaptations from popular novels and classic literature, will be screened at the Spot-Taipei Film House from April 20 to April 27. They comprise "The Big Picture," "The Help," "The Rum Diary," "Goethe!," "My S.O. Has Depression," "The Skin I Live In," "Diner Escargot," "My Back Page," "Small World," and "The Merchant of Venice."

For more information on the festival, go to http://www.culture.gov.tw or http://2012TLF.culture.gov.tw  (in Chinese)