About Us

The Bookworm was begun in 2004 by Alexandra Pearson, an Englishwoman resident in Beijing for the last 15 years. A small community library at its inception, The Bookworm is now the English language literary hub of all things book-related in China’s capital.

Former journalist Peter Goff joined The Bookworm in April 2006, to bring our successful business model to other parts of the country.

We now operate in two other China locations ? The Bookworm Chengdu, opened in September 2006, and The Bookworm Suzhou which throws its doors open to a waiting public in September 2007.

As well as our ongoing events programmes in all three cities, The Bookworm has a number of projects on the slate for launch in 2008.

The Bookworm Literary Festival, following on the success of festivals in Beijing in 2006 and 2007, will take place in March 2008 across all three of our locations. In previous years we’ve hosted an impressive roster of writers, including Goldman Sachs Book of the Year award winner James Kynge, Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks, and legendary Chinese writer, Ma Jian. Our festivals also include events for a broad spectrum of the community in each of our three cities, including writer’s workshops and seminars, children’s activities, discussion panels and literary lunches.

To find out more about our festival programme, to enquire about options for sponsors, or to propose writers for our consideration, please contact Jenny Niven on [email protected]

The Bookworm Writer’s Residency Programme will be launched in 2008, offering an international writer the opportunity to spend up to two months in each of Beijing, Chengdu and Suzhou in China’s Olympic year. The Bookworm will offer living accommodation, a small stipend, and travel between our three locations to each chosen writer, on the basis that each participant in the residency project will offer booktalks and workshops at each of our venues.

For Australian writers, you can apply for a Bookworm Writer’s Residence grant through ASIALINK. Please see their website for details

For details of how to apply for our residency scheme, or if you’re interested in supporting this programme, please contact Jenny Niven [email protected]

We are always on the lookout for companies and organisations who’d like to support our projects, or work together with us to develop the literary services we offer the Beijing community. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Bookworm Team