The poet was invited to the 10th Bookworm Literary Festival on its opening night on Friday as one of the main draws to "give a taste" of what the festival is going to offer, according to festival director Peter Goff.
As a privately funded literary festival, Goff says the purpose of the festival is to "provide a platform for the promotion of great literature and the free and positive exchange of ideas".
Also present on the opening night were BBC broadcaster Bidisha, a reporter on asylum-seekers, who shared her experiences, and Australian award-winning writer Robert Drewe, who talked of stories he had written as a reporter in the 1970s and the experience of visiting China at the time.
Chinese writer A Yi, 40, won loud applause on the opening night as he detailed humorously the price he paid for writing and his status after being "abducted by writing".
Before turning a full-time author eight years ago, he was many things－a police officer, secretary and magazine editor. But all he ever dreamed of was to become a writer.
A Yi has published novels and collections of short stories, including the popular A Perfect Crime, which was published in English in 2015.
This year, the Bookworm festival features more than 180 writers and speakers from more than 30 countries, and is presenting 300 events in Beijing, Chengdu and Suzhou through March 27.
Event highlights
A Novel Approach: Experimenting with Language and Style
6 pm, March 17; Bookworm
Running Through Beijing author Xu Zechen in conversation with writers Eimear McBride from Ireland and Anna Smaill from New Zealand on writing novels.
Ken Hom, Master Chef
6 pm, March 18; Bookworm
American-born celebrity chef and writer Ken Hom will talk about the Chinese elements of his cooking for leaders of countries and royalty, and about his 80 books, with the session moderated by food blogger Kristen Lum.
Innovation and Imitation in China
12 pm, March 19; Bookworm
Part of the "China future perfect" series of discussions, the panel will have Kaiser Kuo, director of international communications for Baidu; Christina Larson, contributor to Science magazine; and Edmond Lococo, senior vice-president for public relations at ICR, to look into topics from vehicles to entrepreneurs.
In Conversation with Xinran
7 pm, March 19; Dulwich College
Xue Xinran, who writes under the pen name Xinran, is a Chinese-British journalist and author. She will talk about her books, including international best-seller The Good Women of China and her latest, Buy Me the Sky, about Chinese born under the family planning policy.
Crime and Vice
12 pm, March 20; Bookworm
Shanghai-born Qiu Xiaolong, a renowned crime novelist who writes in English as well, will discuss with Hong Kong-based author Nury Vittachi social realities that inspire crime fiction.
Creating Worlds: Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy
8 pm, March 21; Bookworm
Sci-fi writer Han Song who won China's Galaxy Award for fiction for six times, and wrote such books as 2066: Red Star Over America, will join Israeli author Ofir Touche Gafla and Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski in a talk on fantasy writing.
Poetry in Translation
6 pm, March 24; Bookworm
Hailed as China's Allen Ginsberg for his avant-garde works, Sichuan-born poet Yi Sha will read poems along with Swiss author Yves Laplace and will examine poetry translation.
El Impostor
4 pm, March 26; Cervantes Institute
Spanish writer Javier Cercas brings his latest novel, El Impostor (The Impostor), to China. He will sit with one of China's top Spanish scholars Chen Zhongyi for a cross-cultural dialogue.
