Dr Anna TSO Wing-bo （曹穎寶博士）

Dr Anna Tso graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a BA (Hons) in English and Comparative Literature, an MA in English Studies, an MA in Literary and Cultural Studies, and a PGDE in English Language Education (Secondary). Interested in the representations of gender identity in children’s fantasy fiction, she furthered her studies in England and obtained her PhD from the School of English, Drama, and Creative Studies at The University of Birmingham. Prior to joining The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, she was an associate professor at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, where she was the director of the Research Institute for Digital Culture and Humanities, as well as the program director of the MA in Applied English Linguistics.

Her interests include children’s literature, myths and fairy tales, Shakespeare, digital literacy, and applied linguistics. She has a publication record that includes 9 funded research projects with successful completions and over 60 publications across Asia, Russia, Europe, the U.K., the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Her work features 3 authored books, 7 edited volumes, 4 special issues, and an award-winning children’s series, along with more than 40 refereed book chapters, peer-reviewed journal papers, and reviews. Her work has appeared in leading journals such as New Voices in Translation Studies (SJR-Q1 in Literature and Literary Theory), The International Journal of Early Childhood (SJR-Q2 in Education), and Asian Association of Open Universities Journal (SJR-Q1 in Social Sciences).

She has served as a PhD external reviewer for The University of Newcastle, Australia, acted as a review panel member for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grants of the Canadian Government, and hosted the RTHK program titled “The Fairytale World of H.C. Andersen” (2025). Additionally, she is the founding editor of The Kaleidoscope Chronicle (2025 – present), associate editor for the Digital Culture and Humanities book series (Springer, 2017 – present), President of the Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology (2022 – present), and monthly columnist for The Hong Kong Economic Journal. She has held research fellowships in Australia, Denmark, and Germany.

🔗Research Output and Achievements

(Selected) Funded Grants

Faculty Development Scheme (FDS), Research Grants Council, HKSAR

• Principal Investigator, “Diverse and Multicultural Shakespeare: Children’s and Young Adult Book Adaptations and Retellings in the 21st Century” (Ref. No.: UGC/FDS14/H13/25), (FDS). Award: HK$412,720 (18 months)
• Principal Investigator, “An investigation of Hong Kong students’ perceptions and experiences of English academic writing: A case study at The Open University of Hong Kong” (Ref. No.: UGC/FDS16/H01/15), (FDS). Award: HK$523,825 (18 months)

Inter-institutional Development Scheme (IIDS), Research Grants Council, HKSAR

• Co-Principal Investigator, “Transplantation of Shakespearean Drama into Asian Culture” (Ref. No:  UGC/IIDS23/H01/25), IIDS. Award: HK$447,625 (12 months)
• Co-Investigator, “Hans Christian Andersen and Worlding in His Tales” (Ref. No.: UGC/IIDS14/H03/24), IIDS. Award: HK$222,050 (12 months)

Institutional Development Scheme Research Infrastructure Grant (IDS), Research Grants Council, HKSAR

• Team Leader, “First Phase of Institutional Research Capacity Development” (Ref. No.: UGC/IDS16/14), IDS. Award: HK$12,000,000 (36 months)

Community Involvement Broadcasting Funding (CIBF), Radio Television Hong Kong, HKSAR

• Radio Producer, “The Fairytale World of H.C. Andersen” (Ref. No.: P2051), CIBF. Award: HK$91,200 (6 months)

President’s Discretionary Funds, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong

• Principal Investigator (on behalf of ENG), “International Conference on Emerging Technologies in English Language Education”. Award: HK$50,000 (12 months)

• Principal Investigator (on behalf of ENG), “A Digital Conference on Acting Modern China: A Transcultural Affair from 1910s to 2020s”. Award: HK$30,750 (12 months)

Start-up Research Fund, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong

• Principal Investigator, “An Ethnographic Study of Professional Writing in the Cultural and Creative Industry”. Award: HK$10,000 (12 months)  

Other External Grants

• Principal Investigator, “Exploring the Digital Literacy Practices of Hong Kong Students beyond Classroom: Writing through Facebook and WhatsApp” (Ref. No.: S/V/EL in U002(1/2017)), Sunrise Charitable and Education Fund. Award: HK$10,000 (18 months)

• Principal Investigator, “Childhood Literacy Development: Hong Kong Children’s Stories Project” (Ref. No.: S/V/EL in U001(8/2016)), Sunrise Charitable and Education Fund. Award: HK$30,000 (18 months)

Professional and Community Services

• Founding Editor (2025 – To date), The Kaleidoscope Journal.
• President (2022 – To date) & Vice President (2020 – 2021), Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology.
• Invited Speaker and Visiting Researcher (14 August 2025). The Hong Kong Mermaid. Hans Christian Andersen Centre, The University of Southern Denmark.
• Invited Speaker and Research Collaboration Fellow (29 July 2025). Unleashing Creativity: Crafting and Exploring English Poetry in the Digital Age. School of Education, The University of Newcastle.
• Conference Chair (2022 – 2025), Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology International Conference 2022, 2023, 2024, & 2025, co-organized with The University of Hong Kong Libraries.
• Invited Speaker (26 March 2024). Defining Villainy. English Festival Academic Talk. Arts Association, The University of Hong Kong.
• Keynote Speaker (30 June 2023). Shakespeare and Social Media. Research Retreat. The School of Humanities and Social Science, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.
• Keynote Speaker (30 April 2022). Horror Archetypes in Children’s Books and Films. Heterotopic Junction Graduate Conference on Language, Literature and Culture. The Department of English, Baptist University of Hong Kong.
• Plenary Speaker (7 April 2022). Evaluation of English Learning Apps for Vocabulary Building. Eurasia 2022: Social and Humanitarian Space in the Era of Globalization and Digitalization, International Scientific Cultural and Educational Forum. Magnitogorsk State Technical University, Magnitogorsk, Russia.  
• External Reviewer (January – February 2022). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grants of the Canadian Government.
• Guest Speaker (28 January 2022). Digital Humanities in Higher Education Workshop. Teaching and Learning Development Office, Shue Yan University of Hong Kong, China.
• Invited Speaker (4 October 2021). Children’s Shakespeare in Children’s Shakespeare in the Transmedia Universe. Seminar Series on Digital Humanities. The Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
• PhD External Examiner (September – October 2021). School of Education, The University of Newcastle, Australia.
• Invited Speaker (11 & 13 January 2021), “Bringing Together Creativity and Literacy: Igniting Gifted/More Able Students’ Creativity and Enhancing their Language Awareness”(Primary and Secondary Sectors), two Continuing Professional Development Teachers’ Workshops, Gifted Education Section, Curriculum Development Institute, Hong Kong Education Bureau.
• Featured Author (9 – 13 June 2020), the 9th Hong Kong International Young Readers’ Festival.
• Keynote Speaker (12 June 2020), “Digital Impacts on Children’s Literature,” a keynote speech for the 4^th Undergraduate Academic Conference on Humanities, The Education University of Hong Kong.
• Guest Editor, (2019 – 2023), The Journal of Communication and Education. 
• Associate Editor (2017 – To date), Springer’s Digital Culture and Humanities book series.
• Reviewer (2014 – To date) for: System (SSCI-indexed), China Review(SSCI-indexed), The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health(SSCI-indexed), Interlitteraria(ESCI-indexed), Education Sciences (Scopus & ESCI indexed), Informatics (ESCI-indexed), Palgrave Communications (ESCI-indexed), Humanities (ERIC-indexed), and The Journal of Chinese Literary Studies.
• Adjudicator (2021 – To date), Hong Kong Budding Poets (English) Award.