New chapter in Asia's English writing

One of the reasons why the otherwise peripatetic Xu Xi has been living mostly in Hong Kong for the last two years is her commitment to facilitating the rise of new writing from Asia.

She helped design Asia's first low-residency master's in fine arts (MFA) in creative writing program - also the world's only one with a focus on Asia. It has run since 2010 under the aegis of the City University of Hong Kong's English department.

"I borrowed the model from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where I'm the chair of the MFA in creative writing program," Xu says.