One of Hong Kong's elite writers, XU XI was shortlisted in November 2007 for the first Man Asian Literary Prize for her new novel, HABIT OF A FOREIGN SKY (www.manasianliteraryprize.org).

Her upcoming anthology, FIFTY-FIFTY, a collection of poetry, essays and short stories by an exciting line-up of writers, will be published by Haven Books in early 2008.

Xu Xi authored three novels, THE UNWALLED CITY, HONG KONG ROSE and CHINESE WALLS; two short fiction collections, HISTORY'S FICTION and DAUGHTERS OF HUI; and the mixed-genre collection, OVERLEAF HONG KONG: STORIES AND ESSAYS OF THE CHINESE, OVERSEAS. 

She is also editor of two anthologies of Hong Kong literature in English, CITY STAGE and CITY VOICES, the Hong Kong section of Routledge's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POST COLONIAL LITERATURE and prose guest editor for HUNGER MOUNTAIN, a North American literary journal. 

Her fiction and essays appear internationally in journals, anthologies and other publications, and are also broadcast on radio. 

Awards include an O. HENRY story selection, a PLOUGHSHARES Cohen story award, a New York Arts Foundation fiction fellowship, a winning entry in the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST story contest; residencies include the Jack Kerouac Project, the Anderson Center, Kulturhuset USF, the Chateau de Lavigny. 

She also regularly judges for various literary fiction awards and fellowships.

CNN featured Xu Xi in an article on the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/06/26/hk.artists/index.html.

A Chinese-Indonesian native of Hong Kong, she left business and corporate life after eighteen years in favour of the writing life. Xu Xi divides her time between New York, Hong Kong and New Zealand. She has recently been on the fiction faculty at Vermont College's MFA programme and is now teaching at the University of Hong Kong.

For more on her work, please visit www.xuxiwriter.com.