Internationaler Autor*innenwettbewerb

In the organizer's words:

Readings / International Author Competition / Guest Country China / Han/Chan/Chu

13:30 "Twenty-four hours before New Year we get tired of life" by Han Jing / 14:30 "Migratory birds" by Chan Ping Chiu / 16:00 "Catching shadows" by Chu Xia

The readings will take place in Zwinger 3. They will also be livestreamed and shown on video after the events.


"Twenty-four hours before the New Year, we get tired of life" by Han Jing
On New Year's Day, the extended family comes together to celebrate. With mom and dad, with aunts and uncles. And with the siblings. At least that's how it always was when my grandmother was still alive. But this year it's different. All four children won't be there for different reasons. New Year's Day will still take place, of course. Each of the four acts of the play is narrated by one of the absent children. It is a family story, similar to those seen all over the world. And at the same time a close look at Chinese society.

"Migratory Birds" by Chan Ping Chiu
translated from Cantonese by Sara Landa
Stay or go - this has become a question that many in Hong Kong have been pondering since 2019. The number of people deciding to leave Hong Kong continues to rise year on year. Chan Ping Chiu visited the hotspots, conducted surveys and interviews and turned the material into stories. Stories about the inner struggle, about life in the diaspora, about displacement, memory and about the connections between people and places. "Migratory Birds" is set simultaneously in several cities, including Hong Kong, London, Berlin, Girona and the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. The characters are isolated yet vaguely connected. Together, they imagine a larger story of Hong Kong.

"Catching Shadows" by Chu Xia
"Shadow Catching" is a story within a story within another story. The play is set in ancient times on an island, the Shadow Kingdom, in Southeast Asia. The people on the island have to catch shadows for their king. This is how they keep themselves alive. One day, a shadow puppeteer comes to the island. When he plays for the king, he discovers the secret of the king and the shadows. Can he become the new king? And does he even want to?