This evening will see the second week of the Shanghai International Literary Festival kicking off down at M on the Bund. Events will continue across the weekend and throughout the week, providing plenty of opportunities to see a whole host of great writers and performers. Ticket details can be found here as can the full line-up (which we suggest you check - there's far too much going on for us to cover it all in......

Now into its fifth year, M on the Bund’s Shanghai International Literary Festival kicks off this weekend and once again has an impressive line up featuring a string of famous names and expert figures from across the book world. Running for the next three weekends, the festival offers Shanghai’s literati the chance to see some of the best Chinese and international writers. With so many great events to choose from (you can buy tickets and......

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at Glamour Bar. No, not to drink cocktails, but for a much more noble purpose: to attend Dai Sijie's session at the Shanghai International Literary Festival (SILF). The session was in French only, and Dai talked about "la part personnelle d'implication dans l'écriture" (to what extend one can use one's personal experiences in one's writings). Dai Sijie (戴思杰) is obviously the ideal guest to talk about this kind of......

Celebrated American writer and critic Gore Vidal was interviewed by former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr on Sunday at Glamour Bar before a full audience as the opening speaker for the 2007 Shanghai International Literary Festival. Over his career which spans more than 60 years, Vidal has produced novels, plays, screenplays, and numerous essays and pamphlets, and most recently, he published his memoirs, Point-to-Point Navigation. Carr opened Sunday's discussion by describing Vidal as an......

There are a lot of tempting events coming up this weekend. But please don't invite us, we're saving up for Kenny G. On Friday night, Beijing indie rock band Sound Fragment comes to 4Live, inheritor of the old Tang Hui bar, to promote their new album. Opening for them is Shanghai band Banana Monkey (don't ask, we don't know). 4Live is the place for rock these days, bringing both national and international acts on a......

The annual Shanghai International Literary Festival, taking place throughout March, is one of those gems that make Shanghai such a fantastic city. The festival consistently brings some of the biggest names of the contemporary literary scene to the city to discuss their craft in the unusually intimate surroundings — the Glamour Bar or the Crystal Room at M on the Bund. Shanghaiist is really looking forward to this year’s festival, which includes lectures, discussions, and......