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Qiu Xiaolong is the author of eleven novels in the award-winning Inspector Chen series. He has also published collections of short stories, poetry and poetry translations. His books have sold millions of copies and have been translated into more than twenty languages. All his Inspector Chen novels have been made into BBC radio dramatizations. Born in Shanghai, China, Qiu Xiaolong published poetry, translation and criticism in Chinese before he went to the United States as a Ford Foundation Fellow. He obtained his Ph. D. in comparative literature at Washington University in St. Louis. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and daughter.

Qiu Xiaolong: The Bund Park

Sun, 24 Mar, 16:00

After the release of the latest Inspector Chen books, Hold Your Breath and Inspector Chen and Me, Qiu Xiaolong has been reflecting on how he came to write the Inspector Chen series and the ways in which he has grown and changed with the series. In this talk, the author explains the many ways he identifies with his character and explores how much of Inspector Chen’s character has its roots in the author’s own self. Both of these selves are being continuously constructed and deconstructed as they interact in the fictional and real worlds and react to the changes in the social, cultural and political contexts that surround them; like Inspector Chen, Qiu Xiaolong has also changed with the series.