Kevin Chen 陳思宏 — Bringing my small town to the world: the journey of 'Ghost Town'

The Centre of Taiwan Studies is delighted to welcome Kevin Chen to reflect on the unexpected journey of Ghost Town, a novel rooted in a small town in central Taiwan that has gone on to reach readers around the world.

When Kevin Chen published Ghost Town in 2019, he believed that it would have been a great achievement if the novel could reach 50 people. Now the book has been translated into 13 languages and has become a best-seller in Korea, Vietnam and Ukraine. Kevin Chen is going to talk about the unexpected journey of this novel based on a small town in central Taiwan that nobody's heard of.

The event is being held in partnership with the Association for Taiwan Literature and the National Changhua University of Education.

About the speaker

Kevin Chen started his career as a cinema and theater actor. Now based in Germany, he has published several novels, essays, and short story collections in Taiwan. He is the winner of several prestigious literary awards in Taiwan. His first international publication Ghost Town was reviewed by the New York Times, NPR, Publishers Weekly, Le Monde, Corriere Della Sera, The Chosun Ilbo, etc. Ghost Town was placed on the list of Best Books of World Literature 2022 by Library Journal, the longlist of PEN Translation Prize 2023 and the shortlist of Pisa Translation Awards 2026. Ghost Town has been translated into 13 languages.

Find out more info or book your tickets on https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/bringing-my-small-town-world-journey-ghost-town

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