Latest chapter opens for Sinan Book Club
One of the city's biggest book clubs celebrated its ninth anniversary over the weekend marking the club's 400th event.
The birthday saluted the occasion with a 2022 book list selected by 19 experts in various fields, a plan for a short story seminar, and a discussion of famed history novelist Ma Boyong's latest book.
Over the past nine years, the Sinan Book Club has invited 1,500 guests from home and abroad for its 399 events that attracted some 70,000 readers.
Sinan Book Club marked its 9th birthday over the weekend.
Launched in February 2014, the weekly event was originally an extension of the international book events held during the city's annual book fair in August. Every Saturday, organizers invited authors, publishers and scholars from all over the world to discuss their books.
The range of guests and subjects continuously extended from writing, reading and literature to philosophy, science, history and current events.
"A city with the best universities, publishers, media, theaters, museums and cafes is glamorous, magical and livable," said Chen Heng, vice president of Shanghai Normal University.
The university has been co-hosting an international academic seminar and exchange platform with the book club and Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
"Culture is the soul of a city, which means cultural events everywhere all the time, inclusive spaces and atmosphere for all kinds of events including more rebellious ones. That is also the Sinan's cultural value."
Author Ma Boyong shares research on medical history related to his latest history fiction.
The club has also extended to more special events including a book bazaar, literature journal, "flash" bookshops which became the permanent Sinan Bookstore.
"I was initially attracted by a book bazaar when I passed by Sinan Mansion on a sunny weekend," Fiona Liu, a regular participant of the book club told Shanghai Daily as she posed under the anniversary banner.
"I didn't get a reservation for the 9th birthday, but still wanted to commemorate it somehow since I was having lunch in the area. It's quite nice to have something drawing you out on a weekend at this age of social media, even better when that something is reading."
The weekly event was launched in February 2014.
