The National Central Library (NCL) will host a two-day carnival in Taipei next month as part of the annual Taiwan Reading Festival and feature books presented by Taiwan’s diplomatic allies for the first time, according to the library Monday.
The first day of the carnival at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park on Dec. 3 will see music performances, arts and crafts, storytelling, and English books presented by the embassies of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Saint Christopher (Saint Kitts) and Nevis, and Belize, the library said at a press conference.
SVG Ambassador to Taiwan Andrea Bowman told CNA that her country’s booths at the carnival will feature three trained Vincentian teachers of English based in Taiwan reading books by Vincentian authors to the Taiwanese public.
We will be “using excerpts from the books to say something about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and to entice the children as well, so we are going to have hands-on children’s activities,” Bowman said.
“We’re going to have the children engage with the text in various ways, maybe drawing, getting ideas and magic from reading.”
Saint Kitts and Nevis Ambassador to Taiwan Donya Francis said his embassy’s booth will feature English books written by leading authors in his country to give Taiwanese a clearer understanding of the Caribbean country, and its culture and heritage.
“I can tell you I have traveled to many places, not by plane and not by boat, but by reading books. So I want people to take a trip to our country via reading books and embrace this new world and open a promising future,” Francis said.
Meanwhile, Belize Ambassador to Taiwan Candice Pitts said that when Taiwanese children visit her embassy’s booth, they will also be taken on a journey to her country through books.
The books “introduce them to our national symbols, our national trees, our national birds, our national animals, our national anthem and our national flag,” Pitts said.
“They have a way of comparing and juxtaposing those national items to those of Taiwan, so it’s a very interesting learning experience for them,” Pitts said.
The carnival will continue Dec. 4 in areas surrounding the NCL with talks by iconic actors and authors, including Taiwanese actress Brigitte Lin (林青霞) and Taiwanese writer Pai Hsien-yung (白先勇), NCL Director-General Tseng Shu-hsien (曾淑賢) said.
The Taiwan Reading Festival, which is typically held on the first weekend of December, had between 50,000 and 70,000 visitors last year, and Tseng said it could draw as many as 100,000 visitors this year.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel