Come and hear Sophie Gee dish on the deliciously scandalous topic of sex and dating in eighteenth century London, the topic of her acclaimed novel, The Scandal of the Season. Named one of the best books of 2007 by the Washington Post, the novel tells the story of the real-life ... Read more »

Mara Moustafine shares the incredible story of the Russians of China through the discovery of the fate of her Russian Jewish family, from Harbin to Stalin’s Soviet Union, chronicled in Secrets & Spies. The touchingly personal account, overlaid with the skilled geopolitical analysis by this former diplomat and intelligence analyst ... Read more »

A glass of wine is the perfect accompaniment to Krisztina Tóth’s poetry. One of Hungary’s most acclaimed young poets and novelists, Toth’s poetry has strong connections with different Hungarian and European poetic traditions, their trademark a subtle combination of strong visual elements, intellectual reflection and an empathetic ... Read more »

“To see the future, one must grasp the past,” said Confucius. Jonathan Fenby, the author of The Penguin History of Modern China, takes the expertise gained as former editor of the Observer, the South China Morning Post and Reuters World Service to flesh this out in an engaging discussion of ... Read more »

Wang Gang launches the English version of his transcendent novel, in which the English language is the catalyst for a journey of self-discovery for young protagonist Love Liu in Xinjiang. The original Chinese edition was a major bestseller, voted Best Novel of the Year. Translators Jane Pan and Martin Merz ... Read more »

Join us for the quirky, thought-provoking, distinctive poems of Patrick Cotter. Cotter, a native of Cork, reads from his full length book of poetry: you’ll hear about a dog which has learnt to sing songs by Henry Purcell, a ghost which haunts the pissoir of a modern city centre ... Read more »

Cuisine is the prism through which Nicole Mones considers China in her latest novel, The Last Chinese Chef. With an insight of and passion for Chinese food culture that comes from more than 30 years of China experience, Mones explores food writing in journalism and the novel, from the fundamental ... Read more »

Intrigue, scandal and skullduggery are all part of a day’s business in Neel Chowdhury’s fictionalized tale of an Indian business family, The Inheiritors. Chowdhury reads from his debut novel, which chronicles the rise and fall of the Lohia family’s business empire, shares how his day job as ... Read more »

Mohammed Hanif tells the stories behind his darkly hilarious political thriller, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, which centres around the assassination of Pakistani dictator Zia ul-Haq. Hanif shares the personal, authentic sensibility that comes from being a former Pakistan Air Force officer while tracking the possible assassination vectors of one ... Read more »

In Julia Leigh’s brilliant, disturbing new novel, Disquiet, members of an estranged family gather in a French chateau to find some things are so ruinous they cannot be voiced. Listen to Leigh, the writer nobel laureate Toni Morrisson called “a sorceress”, share her insights on how an author can ... Read more »

Jane Godwin engages young writers to engage in different ways of developing their own ideas for stories. Author of numerous children’s books, Godwin will explore the creative process and, using examples of her own work, will share how her own stories evolved. The workshop will explore the tools needed ... Read more »

What public role does history have? The eminent Australian historian Henry Reynolds, whose primary work has focused on the frontier conflict between the European settlement of Australia and indigeneous Australians, talks about perspectives and politics in history.

Click the play button above to listen or click here to download. Read more »

What’s it like behind the scenes of a critically acclaimed television program? William F. Zorzi, a writer for the Peabody Award-winning drama series “The Wire” during the program’s last three seasons, shares his stories. Baltimore native Zorzi has had a unique “Wire” experience: a reporter and editor at ... Read more »

What will Obama’s America look like? Renowned historian and British television personality Simon Schama, who covered the 2008 US election for the BBC and is the author of The American History: A Future, shares his insights and predictions.

Click the play button above to listen or click here to ... Read more »

It’s never too late to write a bestseller (or two). Marina Lewycka talks about publishing her first novel, The Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, at the age of 57. The book went on to sell a million copies in more than 30 languages and win several awards. Her ... Read more »

In 1909, F.T. Marinetti’s “Futurist Manifesto” launched the century’s most provocative and cross-disciplinary artistic movement. This panel looks look at the rise and evolution of one of its elements, typography, in China, from a historical and contemporary perspective. Pan Jian Feng, one of China’s foremost typeface ... Read more »

It’s never too late to write a bestseller (or two). Marina Lewycka talks about publishing her first novel, The Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, at the age of 57. The book went on to sell a million copies in more than 30 languages and win several awards. Her ... Read more »

Why are there Chinese living in every corner of the world? Manying Ip, associate professor of Asian Studies at Auckland University and the author of several critically acclaimed books on Chinese in New Zealand explores the questions of living away from home, diaspora and identity.

Click the play button above ... Read more »

Spend a fascinating hour listening to the tale of Bamboo Hirst, born to a dashing Italian diplomat and a beautiful Chinese singer who met in 1930s Shanghai. The Japanese occupation forces them to leave their baby daughter with the French Catholic St Joseph’s mission (just across Yan’an Road ... Read more »

She was one of Shanghai’s legendary figures: an intrepid journalist, a fervent supporter of the Chinese Revolution, a martyr buried at Babaoshan. China scholar and historian Stephen MacKinnon conducted over 80 interviews, many of them with China literary figures, for his biography of Smedley, enriching his tale of this ... Read more »

Writing in a language that is not your mother tongue opens up different worlds. Liu Hong, the author of four novels and the first mainland Chinese author in the UK to write in English, talks about the importance of writing in English for her – how she was drawn to it ... Read more »

Biographer Cyril Cannon relates the public successes and private sorrows of Charles Henry Brewitt-Taylor, who rose from a humble background to become a Commissioner of Customs, a Director of Customs College and a highly regarded translator, all against the backdrop of China from 1880 to 1920.

Click the play button ... Read more »

Listen to the improbable true story of Robert Reuven Sokal, a young refugee from Vienna, who falls in love with Julie Chenchu Yang from a well-to-do Ningbo family, in wartime Shanghai. The story, one of the few love stories between an European emigrant and a Chinese, allows journalist Schomann to ... Read more »