For writer and cultural critic Tang Siu Wa, the Art and Cultural Outreach Bookstore, ACO to fans, is a refuge from a world in which it’s sometimes difficult for people to find their footing. A bookstore is often compared to a temple where one can pause from life and reflect. Located in Foo Tak Building in Wan Chai, a hub for art, cultural, media and advocacy organizations, the ACO Bookstore has natural light, adequate space and comfortable seating, and it welcomes readers, encouraging them to immerse themselves in its peaceful atmosphere and thoughtful choice of books. Tang believes that the independent, not-for-profit bookstore is a place for imagination, restoration and transformation, and she takes young people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder there to learn to think again and to gradually come to terms with the world and themselves, so that the healing power of a seemingly modest space is able to transcend its original purpose.
Tang Siu-wa is a writer and cultural critic, co-founder and chief curator of the House of Hong Kong Literature, as well as a literary organiser, Editor-in-Chief of literary media “p-articles", “form" and “o-square”, and RTHK presenter. She teaches creative writing at several Hong Kong institutions, and contributes columns and criticism to the local media, including Ming Pao, the Hong Kong Economic Times and City Magazine.