“Reading the World: Food Culture ．Future Living.”
— Hong Kong Book Fair 2025
ARPress has been actively participating in some of the world’s most prominent international book fairs, from the Bologna Book Fair and the London Book Fair to events in Miami, Beijing, and Sharjah. We’re excited to share that our journey doesn’t stop there. Our latest step forward: participation in the 35th Hong Kong Book Fair 2025. This expansion brings even more opportunities to connect with readers, authors, and publishers on a truly global scale, and we’re just getting started.
The 2025 Hong Kong Book Fair took place from July 16–22 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This year’s theme, “Food Culture · Future Living,” served up a rich menu of tastily themed programming. Culinary literature from around the world was showcased, offering insights into food’s role in traditions, health habits, and even the future of dining through tech innovations. The World of Art & Culture zone elevated the experience, blending interactive art, dynamic videos, music, and literary commentary. Eight artists and several embassy installations illustrated how a dining table can be a cultural microcosm.
One highlight was the collaboration with Macao’s Cultural Affairs Bureau, which brought a “Macao Craft Market” to the fair. Around 40 creative brands presented handmade crafts, fashion, and lifestyle pieces that reflect Macao’s unique local identity. Mainland China also had a strong showing, with over 40 publishers and nearly 20,000 titles, including a spotlight on Sichuan’s cultural offerings.
Beyond browsing shelves, visitors immersed themselves in interactive experiences: AR photo booths, needlework demonstrations (such as Sichuan embroidery), panda-themed installations, and a civic education exhibition featuring Cantonese opera, ballet, game booths, and photo corners aimed at promoting awareness.
Book signings and author talks drew enthusiastic crowds. Fans queued to meet popular voices such as Ghost Writer (孤泣) and more. Seminars covered a wide range of topics, featuring international voices like Rie Qudan, Lindsay Varty, and Osamu Okamura, alongside local and regional authors. The fair hosted eight themed lecture series, including future living, local history, youth reading, and mindfulness.
To commemorate its 35th edition, the fair introduced several clever ticketing promotions: free admission for visitors born in 1990, special packages allowing five people to enter for the price of three, and limited-edition tote bags and gifts for shoppers who spent over HK$500. The fair didn’t just showcase booksit offered an immersive cultural feast, blending reading, dining, art, craft, tech, and performance. It was a testament to how a book fair can go beyond the printed page, feeding the mind, the heart, and yes, even future appetites.
The Spare (Part 2) by Marsha May Fairchild Sumpter chronicles their marriage, which was given about two weeks to two months to survive. They stood two chances of making it work out—slim and none. But through commitment and stubbornness, they hung in there. The name Sumpter is in the dictionary and says, “a packhorse,” which she relates to a mule, telling Bill he was stubborn as a mule. This book tells a little about the years they lived in Rapid City and how they grew up. She’s sure there are others who have endured more turmoil and grief, but this is her tale of those formative years of marriage.
Author Marsha May Fairchild Sumpter was born and raised on a working ranch twenty-eight miles north of Philip, South Dakota. As young people, they worked hard and played hard, and events that occurred caused considerable pain to her both mentally and physically. Her choices were not the best, and at seventeen, she was very much on her own. The saying “I was the only hell my mother ever raised” was probably very accurate. She writes this to tell you what it was like growing up and to let others know their choices are important to their future.
She has had many life experiences, both good and bad, over the years. Growing up in the 1940s, every farmer/rancher in South Dakota was dirt poor, trying to produce a crop when there was no rain, or the grasshoppers took over or hail came and wiped out all. The hard work left its mark on this young person. It was always the next year’s country. Did she want to live and work at this all her life? That wasn’t a question that she asked herself, but she stayed away from that lifestyle at an early age.
After marriage, at a young age, it was “you made your bed, lie in it,” and she was destined to finish high school and care for a baby before knowing anything about babies other than lambs, calves, and pigs. Poverty was a way of life for this young couple, scrimping to make ends meet. Work consisted of being a bus driver at age eighteen, a short-order cook, and finally going on to get more education and work in offices.
Part 1 and Part 2 of this book are just to give a glimpse into life on the farm when I was growing up and carry you through the trials and tribulations encountered along the way.
In many ways, her story is very insignificant because she realized there are many people out there who encountered way more difficulties and survived them. Each and every person has a story to tell, and it is unfortunate they don’t write about it and let others know what it is like to be a survivor.
The Spare (Part 2) was displayed at the 2024 and 2025 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (LATFOB) – Book Gallery. LATFOB is one of the world’s most significant literary gatherings. It has been held every year since 1996 with the goal of bringing together the people who create books and the people who love to read them. It is attended by more than 550 authors, celebrities, storytellers, and hundreds of exhibitors.
Most recently, the book was featured at the 2025 Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF). The 31st edition of BIBF, held from June 18 to 22, 2025, unfolded as a vibrant tapestry of literary innovation, cultural exchange, and academic collaboration. Hosted at the China National Convention Center, this year’s fair showcased over 400,000 titles and introduced groundbreaking initiatives that highlighted the evolving landscape of global publishing. Spanning 50,000 square meters, BIBF 2025 featured more than 1,700 exhibitors from 80 countries, a significant increase from previous years. Notably, first-time participants from Bangladesh, Chile, Ethiopia, and Jamaica brought fresh perspectives to the fair’s diverse representation. The event attracted approximately 300,000 visitors on the first day alone, reflecting the growing global interest in literature and publishing.
Purchase the book, The Spare (Part 2) by Marsha May Fairchild Sumpter, via this link: