HKBU International Writers’ Workshop Features Award-winning American Poet Jane Hirshfield

06-10-2026

The International Writers’ Workshop (IWW) at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is delighted to feature the award-winning American poet Ms. Jane Hirshfield for this year’s annual Distinguished Writers Series. Ms. Hirshfield, the author of ten books of poetry, will present her work at a Literary Reading and Conversation on Thursday, 22 October 2026 to inspire students from HKBU and local secondary schools as well as the general public. She will also share her insights on the craft of writing at a Masterclass for HKBU students to be held on 23 October.

Writing “some of the most important poetry in the world today” (The New York Times Magazine), Jane Hirshfield has also edited and co-translated four books presenting world poets from the deep past. In 2024, she received Peking University’s prestigious Zhongkun International Poetry Prize. Hirshfield has taught at Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, and elsewhere. In 2022, she was the Seamus Heaney International Poet at Queen’s University, Belfast, and in spring 2026, Visiting Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. A former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, she was elected in 2019 into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Each year in the fall semester, the IWW’s Distinguished Writers Series honours one esteemed international writer who gives a literary reading and discusses his or her literary works with local writers and readers. The IWW also runs a competitive residency programme in the spring semester each year, with an open call for applications from potential writers-in-residence who will be featured at the IWW Literary Festival in March. Further details about IWW events can be found on the IWW Facebook page.

About IWW

Founded in 2004, the IWW remains one of the signature programmes in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at HKBU. For more than 20 years, the IWW has hosted over 150 writers from more than 60 different countries, and it is one of the few writers-in-residence programmes in Asia. As a self-funded and non-profit initiative, the IWW has consistently organised free public events to promote literary and cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and the world. Demonstrating HKBU’s commitment to the arts, the IWW serves as an important platform for promoting the development of literature in Hong Kong. Please visit the website or Facebook page for further information about IWW activities and writers.