Frederick Stewart, born in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was the first headmaster of the HK Govt Central School for Boys (now Queen's College) and second Inspector of Schools. He was considered by contemporaries as the Founder of Hong Kong Government Education. At the Central School, his consistent policy was to educate pupils in Western knowledge, while preserving their Chinese identity, and he insisted on equal time for Chinese and English studies. A career change was forced by the in...

This collection of poems was written during almost thirty years' residence in Hong Kong. Most are on explicitly Hong Kong topics, and reflect the writer's personal experience and knowledge of Hong Kong. Those who have emigrated or who have spent a period of time overseas will empathise with the expatriate experience described. Other poems narrate and reflect on personal events and concerns which will resonate with many.“Gillian Bickley has the sharp eye and strong stomach of the tr...

People, art and life. A record of a particular space in time. Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Sukhothai, Honolulu, Mexico City, northernmost Scotland, Andorra. Intimates and strangers. A mother and son seen for some seconds on a bridge in Shanghai. The emotions flowing between performer and conductor throughout a concert. The interpretation one creative artist gives to that of another's work. Gillian Bickley values the records we all make: — the heritage we may or may not preserve, what we c...

PERCEPTIONS consists of short pieces, poetry or poem-like essays, written over a period of thirty years, on various serious and reflective topics, but with some humorous and occasional work too. As in Gillian Bickley's previous collections, the subjects occur internationally: this time, in the Pyrenees, Nigeria, Hawai'i, Albania, as well as Hong Kong. Taken as a whole, this fifth poetry collection recognizes the need for shelter and survival, the desire for love, for achie...

The old is contrasted with the new, fictional with actual life. Links are made between different cultures, different lives, different experiences. The expatriate life-style of constant movement runs parallel with the title of the book."Gillian Bickley writes as she responds to everyday events, always with the echo of 'time's winged chariot' in her ears. The fact of moving house sends her speeding back through the moves of a lifetime and forward to the last move, to the small room o...

GILLIAN BICKLEY was born and educated in the UK and has lived mainly in Hong Kong since 1970. The poems in Sightings are on Hong Kong, European and personal subjects, accessible to many readers, both young and old. They consider what it is like to be a human being in this modern world, drawing inspiration mainly from the people whom the writer has encountered, especially in Hong Kong.An academic turned full-time writer, editor and publisher, Gillian invite...

Grandfather's Robin offers poems about People, Fellow Creatures, Society, Ekphrasis, Scenes and Moods, Survival, and Short Poems. They were written over several years, in response to people seen, read about, or known, and in response to creatures seen, read about, or known. Other poems respond to group and social behaviour, and reflect responses to works of art. Some poems are prompted by the natural world, urban and village life, and thoughts about the survival of all beings. The...

The fifty poems collected in Gillian Bickley’s Over The Years have been chosen by Verner Bickley from her five previously published collections.“Sensitive, serious, sincere and sometimes a little sad...." (Dumitru M. Ion ( Romania), Member of the Arts and Sciences Academy in R. Macedonia, etc.,2014)"Driven by curiosity as a poet but also by responsibility as the president of "The International Festival Curtea de Argeş Poetry Nights" in Romania (There have been twen...

In this collection of poetry, written over half a lifetime,Hayley Ann Solomon focuses primarily on the pursuit of excellence, immortality achieved through finite life, love in all its forms, and social justice. As it waxes and wanes, the collection cycles through sequences of lyrical ballads, sonnets, elegies, haiku, snippets of nonsensical verse; all blended with a substantial dose of existential philosophy and social comment.The collection covers a full spectrum, from the darkest...

All at Sea describes the career of a ship captain and salvage master from the time when he joined his first vessel to his present status as a marine consultant in Hong Kong. He writes of the remarkable changes he has seen and experienced in a career which has spanned more than half a century. By turns amusing and thought-provoking, this is an enjoyable tale of a most interesting life."[Alan] has done readers a service by putting on record so many of his experiences in such...

Nick Powell, arriving in Hong Kong with his soon-to-be-ex-wife Lennox, finds himself drawn into the political machinations affecting the city as the Occupy movement of 2014 takes root.A fatal accident exposes the factions vying for control of the SAR and gives Nick the second chance desired by many Hong Kong expats. Will he make the most of the opportunity, or find himself on the wrong side of history?Shifting between a variety of unique voices, HONG KONG ROCKS (a Hong Kong...

In the land of Daoistan, freedom has arrived at last. The revolution liberated all, then enslaved everyone, and now it was liberating them again by allowing people to own credit cards. And a man with credit is a man who has the world at his fingertips, or at least a trip into town where the temptations are pretty much as they have always been, only more people can afford them.ADAM’S FRANCHISE is a story about Adam and his Franchise. He is not quite sure what that means, but he is a...