Event: 10 am, March 10, The Helena May, Hong Kong

7:30 pm, March 11, Pacific Place, Conference Center, Hong Kong

1 pm, March 14, The Bookworm, Beijing

8 pm, March 16, Studio X, Beijing

5 pm, March 19, M on the Bund, Shanghai

Qiu Xiaolong, China/United States

Claim to fame: The creator of the tough cop with a love of poetry, Inspector Chen Cao - the protagonist of his six crime novels, bestsellers all - Qiu is also a poet, literary translator, critic and academic. His latest, Years of Red Dust, is a series of interlinked stories about life as seen from a narrow lane in Shanghai, from the early days of the Communist revolution to rapid urbanization in the late 1990s.

Authorspeak: I remember attending the first Shanghai International Literary Festival. It is so good to be back. I grew up in Shanghai, which also serves as the backdrop of my books.

In the last few years, Shanghai International Literary Festival has become more and more well-known abroad. A number of writers in the West have talked to me about it. It surely enhances the cultural image of the city.

Fellow festival attendee S.J. Rozan is a wonderful writer, and a great friend. We have met in other cities, but it will be the first time in Shanghai. I have promised to be her "guide" in Shanghai.

Event: 3:30 pm, March 16, Central Library, Hong Kong

1 pm, March 19, M on the Bund, Shanghai

Hong Ying, China

Claim to fame: She made a splash with K: The Art of Love, a novel based on the true story of the tumultuous romance between Bloomsbury progeny Julian Bell and Chinese novelist Ling Shuhua, set in 1930s China. Summer of Betrayal, Peacock Cries, and her autobiography Daughter of the River were bestsellers, too.

Authorspeak: Foreign writers usually don't keep their emotional problems vis-a-vis writing to themselves. Talking to them is comforting. I can draw consolation from the fact that I am not the only writer in distress.

I remember one year The Bookworm invited Howard Goldblatt, who had translated my autobiography, Daughter of the River. We talked about literature and literary translation that night. It was unforgettable.

I look forward to meeting the Australian sinologist Mabel Lee who translated my poems. The last time I saw her was in 2004 in Paris. Seven years have passed, in the blink of an eye.

Event: 7 pm, 4 March, The Bookworm, Beijing

2 pm, March 13, M on the Bund, Shanghai

Emma Donoghue, Ireland/Canada

Claim to fame: Her novel Room, a gripping story about a 5-year-old boy and his mother, imprisoned in a basement for 11 years, made it to the Booker shortlist in 2010. Her next novel is going to be based on the true story of a murdered 19th century cross-dressing frog catcher.

Authorspeak: I am deeply honored to be invited to the literary festivals in China, and feel just as enthusiastic about encountering Chinese audiences as they might feel about encountering me. Since I have never been to China, I am very excited to discover the many ways in which our cultures differ as well as resemble each other. For a writer, such experiences are meat and drink.

Event: 8 pm, March 7, and 1 pm, March 8, The Bookworm, Beijing

7 pm, March 10, M on the Bund, Shanghai

7 pm, March 11, The Helena May, Hong Kong

Anne Summers, Australia

Claim to fame: A political adviser to former Australian prime minister John Keating, Summers changed tack and turned editor of the US edition of Australian Financial Review, and later the Ms magazine, which she eventually sold for $20 million. Her book, Damned Whores and God's Police, is hailed as a modern feminist classic.

Authorspeak: It has been six years since my last visit. I will revisit some of my favorite haunts: Dongtai Lu and the Shanghai Museum, the Forbidden City and Liulichang in Beijing, as well as explore the new places that have sprung up in the last few years.

Event: 6:30 pm, March 1, Capital M, Beijing

12 noon, March 4, M on the Bund, Shanghai

Xu Xi, China/United States

Claim to fame: She traverses three continents, living between Hong Kong, New York and the south island of New Zealand. She's the author of eight books of fiction and essays, including her latest, the Man Asian Prize short-listed Habit of a Foreign Sky, a novel about a globe-trotting, high-profile investment banker trying to come to terms with her complicated relationship with her deceased mother.

Authorspeak: I would like to walk the stores in Beijing to see how Chinese fashions and products look. I'd like to catch up with friends, oh! and eat. I used to be in marketing and the quickest way to take the pulse of a place is to walk the local stores and marketplaces.

Beijing is an interesting international space for writers these days - perhaps even more so than Shanghai or Hong Kong - because every writer I know from somewhere else wants to go to Beijing. This is testament to how "sexy" the city has become for writers. I actually think Beijing could be a rather different kind of conduit to the larger literary world than most other cities.

Event: 5 pm, March 5, The Hutong, Beijing

1 pm, March 7, The Bookworm, Beijing

6 pm, March 13, Hullet House, Hong Kong

7:30 pm, March 15, Central Library, Hong Kong