March 22-23 agenda: World Water Day

(AFP PHOTO/NASA/HO)

Monday and Tuesday's highlights comprise the Asian film awards in Hong Kong, World Water Day, the biggest fashion event of the year in Tokyo, a prestigious literary prize in the US, among other events.

Asian Film Awards
March 22
Hong Kong

AFA is a program launched in 2007 honoring filmmakers with outstanding achievements in the field of Asian cinema. A panel of jurors composed of professionals whose experiences and expertise in cinema are internationally recognized will select from among eligible films produced in the region in that year. In 2010, Chinese director Zhang Yimou will be honored with a prize for his "outstanding contribution to Asian cinema".
http://www.asianfilmawards.org

World Water Day (WWD)
March 22
International

This year marks the 8th annual WWD with the theme: Communicating Water Challenges and Opportunities. UN-Water's campaign will focus on water quality and resource management to promote "clean water for a healthy world" for overall wellbeing of humans and ecosystems. http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday International list of local events: http://www.worldwaterday.org/page/2543

Japan Fashion Week
March 23-26
Tokyo, Japan

Japan's design stars including Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons) and Yohji Yamamoto have long been showing their collections outside Tokyo, but the city remains a breeding ground for exciting, up-and-coming talent made in Japan.
http://www.jfw.jp

Bologna Children's Book Fair
March 23-26
Bologna, Italy

Now in its 47th year, the Bologna Children's Book Fair is the most significant annual international book fair in the children's publishing world. In 2009, about 1,300 exhibitors came from 67 countries, with those numbers expected to grow in 2010. While the fair is not open to the public, it sets the tone for the year ahead in children's book publishing, directly affecting what readers will find on shelves in the months and years to come. According to The Bookseller, the young adult sector is likely to be especially solid at the 2010 fair, driven by the success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books.
http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/en/info/

CTIA Wireless 2010
March 23 - 25
Las Vegas Convention Center
Las Vegas, USA

CITA will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2010, welcoming more than 1,000 exhibitors and tens of thousands of spectators to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Discussions about wireless and converged communications, wireless broadband, mobile web computing and data industries will be held over a period of three days. Companies will demo the latest in enterprise solutions, energy saving products, and emerging mobile entertainment technology. Developers, manufacturers and industry leaders will be on hand to discuss the latest trends including Location Based Services (LBS), Smart Energy, Wireless Health, Intelligent Transportation, Cloud Computing and Mobile Money.
http://www.ctiawireless.com

PEN/Faulkner Awards
March 23
Washington DC

Sherman Alexie, Barbara Kingsolver, Lorraine M. López, Lorrie Moore, and Colson Whitehead are in the running for the 2010 PEN/Faulkner fiction award, a prestigious US prize. Nominees include Alexie's tragicomic story collection War Dances, Kingsolver's historical novel The Lacuna, López's Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories, Moore's post-9/11 novel A Gate at the Stairs, and Colson Whitehead's coming-of-age story Sag Harbor. The winner - whom the PEN/Faulkner Foundation recognizes as the "best among equals" - receives $15,000, while each of the four finalists receives $5,000.
http://www.penfaulkner.org