The Bookworm's literary love fest

The opening of this year's Bookworm Literary Festival draws a big crowd in Beijing on March 13, 2015. [Photo by Xing Yi/China Daily]

The coming weeks are a feast for literature lovers in China as the annual Bookworm Literary Festival is held in eight cities across the country through March 29.

More than 110 writers from 28 countries have been invited to participate in around 300 events, such as book talks, panel discussions and workshops ranging from literature to art and environment.

The festival kicked off in The Bookworm bookstore in Beijing last Friday.

Five authors, including Chinese writer Sheng Keyi, Australian writer Linda Jaivin and director of creative writing program at City University of Hong Kong Xu Xi, shared their journeys in writing and storytelling.

"There are many writers who write fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenplay and comedy joining the festival. So we don't stick to one theme," says Peter Goff, managing director of The Bookworm.

"But most of the events are about literature, ideas and communications. It's like a mixed salad bowl."

One of the most anticipated authors is Victoria Hislop, the British best-selling author of The Island, which has sold more than 1 million copies in its Chinese edition. She will come to Beijing on March 21 and talk about her fourth and most recent novel, The Sunrise.

Willis Barnstone, the 87-year-old American poet and translator who lived in China during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) and translated a collection of poems by Mao Zedong, will speak on March 24.

There are also several Chinese faces in the festival.

Guo Xiaolu, author of A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers and a filmmaker who currently lives in London, and Chinese-American author Karen Ma will discuss the eternal topic for expatriate writers－writing across cultures－on March 21.