Literary Journal Celebrates Aspiring Young Writers
The City University of Hong Kong's (CityUHK) Department of English (EN) Student Publication Team proudly hosted a launch ceremony on 19 May for Halfway Home XV, celebrating the latest edition of its annual literary journal. The project provides a platform for aspiring young writers to showcase their literary talents under a specific theme. This year's theme, 'Birth', encouraged writers to explore its metaphorical depths – examining whether life is the only result of birth. The journal features works by CityUHK students, secondary students and acclaimed international writers.
Professor Jason Harding delivered an inspiring opening speech at the awards ceremony.
The book launch ceremony celebrated the literary achievements of all contributors. Professor Jason HARDING, Head of EN, delivered an inspiring opening speech highlighting the publication's continued success and its role in fostering creative expression. An awards ceremony followed, recognising Outstanding Writers for their exceptional pieces. A reading session added a personal touch to the celebration, as writers shared their published works and offered insights into their creative journeys. This unique exchange gave the audience a greater understanding of the inspirations and creative processes behind the featured stories and poems.
'Birth' is the theme of Halfway Home XV.
Nicola Wan – For From It Flow the Springs of Life
Jeenendra Agarwal – A Life Born or a Life Half-Lost
Chow Cherlin – Birth
The EN Student Publication Team thanked the talented students involved in the making of Halfway Home XV. Their contributions not only enriched this year's edition, but also reaffirmed the publication's mission to nurture a vibrant environment for aspiring writers to grow and thrive.Outstanding Writers – PoetryNicola Wan – For From It Flow the Springs of LifeJeenendra Agarwal – A Life Born or a Life Half-LostChow Cherlin – Birth
Outstanding Writers – Short Stories
Ng Kai Yeung – Après Moi, le Deluge
Siu Yan Lin – I Should've Never Been Born
Ethan Quayle – Anthropocene
Outstanding Writers – Non-fiction
Lee Yan Shing Joshua – No Longer Hong Kong, Not Quite
Singapore: My Belated Birth as a Hong Kong Singaporean
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Malaysian musician who can play 30 traditional instruments is captivating millions online
At just 19 years old, Belle Sisoski moves with the certainty of an artist twice her age. Advertisement While her peers navigate university life, temporary jobs – even the occasional existential crisis – this Malaysian performing artist has already mastered more than 30 traditional instruments, composed genre-defying electronic anthems and built a social media empire, all while spearheading a cultural revival of Southeast Asia's endangered musical heritage. In today's segmented music industry, where artists are packaged in neat little boxes, Sisoski defies categorisation. Classically trained pianist? Check. Digital native with millions of followers? Absolutely. Ethnomusicologist preserving near-extinct tribal instruments? Without question. Her live performances that see her seamlessly shifting between throat singing , electronic production and traditional instruments would already be career-defining for most artists. Belle Sisoski is known for her one-woman show that combines the ambience of ethnic instruments, cinematic music and electronic elements. Photo: Belle Sisoski Her distinctive aesthetic – shaved sides with a warrior's braid, slicked-back hair, well-known fashion accessories of Sarawak – mirrors her musical philosophy. Each performance and composition layers cinematic strings, pulsing electronic dance music (EDM) and indigenous instrumentation, all anchored by her remarkable five-octave range.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China's wartime message can sit alongside a love of today's Japan
This year, China marks the 80th anniversary of its victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression – part of the broader victory in the World Anti-Fascist War. Across the country, commemorative exhibitions, television documentaries and a wave of summer blockbuster films have been rolled out to mark the occasion. Advertisement These films , set in the dark days of the 1930s and 1940s, are not just historical dramas; they are cultural reminders. They show the destruction of war, the brutality of the Japanese military aggressors, the resilience of ordinary Chinese people and the enormous sacrifices that went into securing peace. In the cinema, I have seen teenagers sitting in silence long after the credits rolled, absorbing the enormity of what they had just watched. Yet outside the cinema, a different conversation is playing out. Critics – often overseas – accuse these commemorations of being a form of education to incite hatred against Japan, of keeping old grievances alive. Educating people to hate is a huge project. It is the deliberate, systematic cultivation of hostility towards another country or people, often through distorted information or selective memory, with the goal of making reconciliation impossible. But China's remembrance of the war is something else entirely. It is about truth, not distortion; reflection, not vengeance. It is about remembering what happened, not dictating what people must feel today. A boy looks at a poster of 'Dead to Rights', a film about the Nanking massacre, at a cinema in Beijing on August 4. Photo: Xinhua
South China Morning Post
13 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Pop Mart's interim sales soar as Labubu craze fuels Chinese toymaker's record earnings
Pop Mart established itself as the world's most valuable toy producer and exporter of China's 'soft power' after the global phenomenon of its Labubu plush toys and figurines drove overseas revenue to soar fivefold in the first half. Online and in-store revenue outside mainland China jumped to 5.59 billion yuan (US$778 million) in the first six months, making up about 40 per cent of the Beijing-based group's total interim sales of 13.88 billion yuan, which beat analysts' estimates, Pop Mart said on Tuesday. North and South America made up the second-biggest overseas market for the 15-year-old company, with revenue jumping more than tenfold to 2.3 billion yuan. That was second only to the Asia-Pacific region, where sales rose 258 per cent to 2.85 billion yuan. Europe's contribution surged sevenfold to 477.7 million yuan. Founded by Wang Ning in 2010 with the idea of selling toys in so-called blind boxes that hide the content in opaque wrappings, Pop Mart has grown from a seller of plush toys and fridge magnets in Beijing's Zhongguancun area to the world's biggest toy company by value. Its market capitalisation as of Tuesday is HK$377.1 billion (US$48.3 billion), bigger than several toymakers combined: Hasbro of Transformers fame, Mattel the maker of Barbie and Sanrio of Hello Kitty. A Pop Mart store in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, on July 20, 2025. Photo: Eugene Lee Its best-known product is Labubu, an elfin figure with a toothy grin designed by the Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung. It alone made up 35 per cent of Pop Mart's interim sales. Its popularity had been given a leg up by celebrity endorsements displayed on social media by Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, David Beckham, Awkwafina and Lisa of the girl band Blackpink since April.
