Dr Hawk Chang Tsung-chi, Assistant Professor at the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, has been named recipient of the First Book Prize 2019 by the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities (HKAH) for his monograph titled Ireland Then and Now: Traditions and Difference in Contemporary (Irish) Short Fiction. He was also awarded a Junior Fellowship of the Academy for a five-year term.

The First Book Prize aims to give recognition and encouragement for early career achievement among scholars of the humanities working in Hong Kong. The Prize called for submissions from all researchers at local higher education institutions for their first English scholarly monograph of the humanities. HKAH will present an annual prize for the best-submitted manuscript by a humanities scholar. Each year, the winner will be awarded a contract with Springer for the book to be published in The Humanities in Asia series and a Junior Fellowship of the Academy.