Preview: Final weekend of SILF

As you’ve no doubt read about already here on Shanghaiist, this weekend could be one of the best for live music since we scuttled into the Year of the Rat. Therefore, you’ll forgive us if we don’t make it down to M on the Bund but instead spend our time over the next couple of days at slightly less refined venues checking out some great bands. Nevertheless, if books not beats are your thing, then M is the place to be as we enter round 3 of SILF (not to be confused with these SILFs incidentally).

Once again this year, the sophisticates down at M have served up a feast of literary talent for Shanghai’s bookworms to gorge themselves upon and, whilst the festival may be coming to a close, there’s still plenty to see this weekend. As always, Shanghaiist suggests you check the full line-up here (bear in mind that tickets can only be bought at the venue now, not on-line), but below are some selected highlights…

Anne Enright — Tonight, 6pm
Irish author Anne Enright won the Booker Prize last year for her novel The Gathering, which follows love and relationships over several generations of the same family, and will discuss this and her other works here.

Justin Hill — Saturday, 1pm
Hong Kong based Yorkshireman Justin Hill will talk about the heroine of his latest novel, Yu Xuanji, who was a concubine, Daoist nun, and courtesan back in the Tang dynasty. Hill has worked as a volunteer in rural China and has received numerous awards for his books, including the Somerset Maugham Award for Passing Under Heaven in 2005.

Howard Goldblatt — Saturday, 5:30pm
Marking the launch of his translation of Jiang Rong’s Wolf Totem, Howard Goldblatt will be talking about the book, the process of translation, and his relationship with the original author.

Peter Goff & Lucy Cavender — Sunday, 5:30pm
Another book launch, this time for a collection of pieces about China’s capital entitled Beijing: Portrait of a City. The book includes work from a host of renowned writers such as Ma Jian, Zhu Wen, and Tim Clissold, and this evening’s launch will see some of the contributing authors reading from the book.

More information here