Emerging from politically generated obscurity of a different kind was Lijia Zhang, a former Nanjing rocket-factory worker who spent 10 years among 10,000 comrades effectively incarcerated in the "iron rice bowl" of the state employee. The effusive Zhang, now following the literary festival circuit in support of her memoir "Socialism is Great!" brought several houses down with rollicking tales of how having wavy hair betrayed a pretend communist's bourgeois affinities, and of the indispensability of Jane Eyre in diluting the insanity of her plant's endless, obligatory political meetings. Few in her audiences would have guessed these were her first public appearances of any "performing" kind.

Above is South China Morning Post's round-up of HK literature festival in March. Now after much practice – Lijia has just returned from a successful book tour to US, she has no doubt become even a better 'performer'. We are keenly anticipating her speech at Figaro Café on June 11. She'll talk about her new memoir "Socialism is Great!" about her decade-long experience working at a missile factory in Nanjing in the 80's. Few memoirs are set in that fascinating era when China began to experience sea-changes and became what it is today.

Since its publication two months ago, her book has been enjoying rave reviews, including the one in New York Times Book Review. This is an opportunity not to be missed!

Lijia is an established journalist based in Beijing. Her works have appeared in many international publications such as Far Eastern Economic Review, South China Morning Post, Japan Times, Washington Times, The Independent, The Observer and Newsweek. She is a regular speaker on the BBC and NPR.

Join us at Figaro Café, this coming Wednesday, the 11th, at 7pm, as we welcome Lijia Zhang to Shanghai for an informal discussion about her life, her experiences and her latest novel.

Copies of her new book, "Socialism is Great!" will be made available during the talk at RMB200 each.