Edgar nomination, Korean book tour & LOTS of public speaking

So I really need to be updating this site more often, but if I thought last year was busy… the first quarter of 2018 sent me to Los Angeles (twice), San Francisco, Berlin, Cork, Seoul, and of course my home base of London.  It’s been great to have the chance to talk about Dark Chapter, #MeToo and sexual violence in so many different places. I’ve just returned from an amazing (and intense) promotional tour in Seoul, where the Korean edition of Dark Chapter just launched. And next week, I’m headed to New York, where the US paperback edition will be published on April 17th.

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The big news is that Dark Chapter has been nominated for the Edgar Awards for Best First Novel.  These are the most prestigious mystery & crime writing awards in the US, and have been won in the past by Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Gillian Flynn, Viet Thanh Nguyen, etc. So I completely wasn’t expecting this – in fact, I woke up one morning in January, and my Twitter timeline had exploded. Before the Edgar Awards Ceremony in New York, I’ll be participating at the Edgar Week Symposium featuring some of the country’s top crime writers — AND there will be a launch of the US paperback at the Mysterious Bookshop in Tribeca, on Saturday, April 21st. Feel free to come by!  (After that, I’m at the Bay Area Book Festival April 28-29, so looking forward to being in San Francisco again.)

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In the UK, Dark Chapter has also been long-listed for The Author’s Club Best First Novel Award, and I was particularly busy with public talks around International Women’s Day, speaking at the WoW Festival at the SouthBank Centre, the House of Lords in Parliament, and meeting HRH Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall among other activities. I also returned to Cork, Ireland where I studied as a Mitchell Scholar at UCC in 2000-2001 for an MA in English (Gender & Sexuality in Irish Writing).  To give a talk with my former professors in the Dept of English there was very much like coming full circle!  Here’s a feature The Irish Examiner ran on me, following my visit.

With Cliona O Gallchoir, Piaras Mac Einri & Pat Coughlan, my former profs from UCC!

With Cliona O Gallchoir, Piaras Mac Einri & Pat Coughlan, my former profs from UCC!

Of all places I never expected to go, I was flown out to South Korea, which has been rocked recently by a wave of #MeToo allegations. My Korean publishers pulled out all the stops, launching Dark Chapter there with a full press conference, coverage in all major newspapers, and multiple TV interviews. (Try doing this all while jetlagged, with a translator!) I also gave a talk at Ewha Women’s University and a Sebasi lecture (the Korean version of TED).  You can watch my Sebasi lecture (in English) below:

Along the way, I got to meet some of Korea’s leading feminist scholars, fellow survivors and advocates.  It was a truly eye-opening experience for me — and all due to my incredible publishers at Hangilsa. (The only other foreign literary writers they publish are Karl Ove Knausgard, Elena Ferrante, and Rachel Cusk.  Nice to be in that select circle!)

My Korean translator Byeol is herself a survivor & advocate, which means a lot to me

My Korean translator Byeol is herself a survivor & advocate, which means a lot to me

I mentioned Los Angeles, where I attended a pre-Oscar party for the Oscars Wilde Awards, run annually by the US-Ireland Alliance and hosted by… JJ Abrams at the Bad Robot headquarters. At one point in the party I turned around and saw JJ Abrams speaking to Ava DuVernay and I promptly freaked out. I’ve also been speaking to various film companies and producers about screen adaptation rights to Dark Chapter… if you’re interested in those, contact my agents at Pontas!

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Needless to say, while this is all exciting, it’s also exhausting.  I luckily squeezed in a weeklong vacation on Jeju Island in Korea, and later Coron in the Philippines.  I’m leaving with this photo of me at Kayangan Lake, where I wish I still was… yes, the water really is that color!

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An Irish documentary, a South African literary festival, and the final stages of the Not The Booker Prize!

Hello – I’m writing this on a train up to Yorkshire, after a few weeks in South Africa.  Lots to update you on, but in brief, I have a busy week of events coming up, starting with tonight’s launch of the 2018 SI Leeds Literary Prize at the Ilkley Literature Festival. It will be great to return to Ilkley — last time I was here, as one of the 2016 prize winners, I was deep in the edit of Dark Chapter and one year on, it’s amazing to present it as a tangible book! 

Tomorrow, I’m back in London for a panel with the other short-listed writers in The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize, chaired by Sam Jordison, the prize founder and a Guardian book critic.  The panel takes place 7-9pm at the Big Green Bookshop.  Looking forward to meeting the other shortlisted writers, as well as Sam, who called Dark Chapter ‘an impressive debut… defiant and urgent… conveyed with skill and emotional force’ in this great review.  In fact, we’re in the final stage of the Not The Booker Prize — so if you liked the book, please consider voting for it  before midnight, GMT, Sunday, Oct 15th.  All you have to do is vote in the comments section of this article, providing a brief review of the book.  Many thanks to all who have supported the book thus far in getting to the shortlist! 

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You’ll see my October events list above, which also includes speaking on panels about feminism, change, and online spaces at WoW Exeter; about recovery after rape at FiLiA (formerly the Feminism in London conference); and about sexual harassment in institutions at the London School of Economics. On Monday, Oct 16 from 5-6pm, I’ll also be part of a BBC World Service radio programme for BBC 100 Women, broadcast live from the London Transport Museum about sexual harassment on public transport. 

I'm one of the four women in this TV3 Ireland documentary...

I’m one of the four women in this TV3 Ireland documentary…

I’m also headed to Dublin in late October, where I’ll be at the awards ceremony for Irish Tatler’s Women of the Year Awards.  I’m nominated in the Special Recognition category, and it has been an honour to be part of a larger, much-needed conversation in Ireland about sexual assault.  In September, TV3 Ireland aired ‘Unbreakable: True Lives,’ a two-part television documentary featuring four Irish stories of sexual assault and rape. I was one of those four survivors, and the documentary follows my return to Belfast to revisit the park where I was violently raped by a stranger in 2008. When we filmed last autumn, the thought of returning to that park (which features heavily in my novel) filled me with great deal of trepidation and anxiety. But the actual return was not as awful as I expected — and the huge public reception generated by the documentary this autumn has made everything worth it.  The social media reaction has been incredible, connecting a great number of survivors, and we even elicited a statement from George Hook, the Irish journalist who recently came under fire for his questionable comments about rape victims. For those in Ireland, you can still watch the show on TV3 player until Oct 26. My story is in Part 2, which aired on Sep 28th.         

Screen Shot 2017-09-22 at 01.29.40While the documentary was airing in Ireland, I was actually in South Africa, where I’d been invited to speak at the Articulate Africa Book Fair, part of the Essence Festival Durban.  It was my first time in Durban, and I’ve always been keen to connect with readers in South Africa, which the media rather salaciously calls ‘the rape capital of the world.’  Needless to say, a great number of survivors and activists are eager to change the situation around sexual violence in South Africa —I hope my talk resonated with many. It was also great to meet with eminent writers like Chris Abani and Christopher Merrill from the US, and South African authors like bestselling crime writer Deon Meyer, debut phenomenon Mohale Mashigo, literary critic Karina Szczurek, and the renowned Etienne van Heerden (whose novel Ancestral Voices, I’d first heard about as a 14-year-old in New Jersey).

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After the book fair, I took the opportunity to travel around South Africa for a week. I got to traverse the Sani Pass and stay at the highest pub in Africa (in Lesotho), explore the Drakensberg Mountains, hike in the Golden Gate Highlands, sample the art and dining scene in Clarens, and meet three of the Big 5 game animals on safari in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. Nothing quite like turning a corner and finding an elephant right there next to the road!  I hope to return to South Africa soon (especially if my book finds a distributor there), and it’s great to see readers of Dark Chapter already enjoying it down there.

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Finally, my novel came out in the US and Holland in September, with Polis Books and Harper Collins respectively. I wrote this piece for LitHub, on how my background in film influences me as a writer (with a special nod to the car chase scene from The Bourne Supremacy).  Already, Dark Chapter has been included among the top 2017 debut novels by Library Journal and top autumn thrillers by Book Riot. In the UK, Dark Chapter continues to generate buzz, both in the media, with those working on the issue of sexual violence, with book bloggers, such as Books Beyond Borders, Book Muse, and From First Page to Last.

The paperback will be out on November 1st, and already I have an exciting line-up of events in London and elsewhere around the UK.  Looking forward to meeting more readers and seeing how far the book can go in reaching both individuals and organisations on the issue of sexual violence.  If you read the book and think it’s a worthy read, spread the word!  And don’t forget to vote for Not The Booker!

Dark Chapter is shortlisted for The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize

It’s been nearly three months since Dark Chapter’s publication in UK/Ireland — and here’s the most exciting news yet: my novel’s been shortlisted for The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize! You may wonder why the prize exists (the winner receives a mug, and nothing more), but it was set up partly to challenge the elitist, insider world of literary prizes.  So the prize is entirely crowdsourced. This means that of the 160+ longlisted titles, Dark Chapter was among the top five books receiving the most votes from the public — more specifically, we tied for second place.  This means a great deal to me, as it can be tough for books with independent publishers to gain traction.   But it looks like the novel has already started to connect with readers, and I hope the attention Dark Chapter gets from the shortlisting will introduce it to even more.  By complete coincidence, The Guardian also ran this excellent interview with me (unrelated to the Not The Booker), on July 31st about the book and after-care for rape victims.

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In other news, the US/Canada publication is two weeks away — Polis Books will be publishing it on September 12th, and you can pre-order the book at all major booksellers in North America. Trade reviews have been fantastic:       

“A gripping debut… Li does a fine job exploring how one incident can change the course of a life in this astute psychological study.” — Publishers Weekly

“That Li was able to write this novel, as both personal catharsis and public service, speaks volumes about her inner strength. Li’s novel is both a valuable social document and a riveting page-turner.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Li skillfully compels the reader to examine life stories that have converged through a nightmarish act of violence.” — Library Journal (Starred Review)

“A thoughtful, empathetic portrayal of the challenges rape victims face when seeking justice.” — Booklist

I also got to write this short piece for Publishers Weekly. (I am of course open to any media interviews or event suggestions in the US)  I’m currently on vacation in California and just opened a box full of the US copies…

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Five days after that on Sept 17th, Harper Collins Holland will publish the Dutch edition.  Here’s what the cover looks like, it’s pretty different from the British and American versions!

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Needless to say, Dark Chapter has started to reach international readers even before translated editions come out.  Die Zeit online newsletter ran this interview in German with me, and someone even blogged about my book in Greek.  This summer, we also sold translation rights in German, Czech, Korean, Italian, and Icelandic. That makes a total of nine territories where the novel will be published!  

Meanwhile, I continued my book tour in the UK and Ireland this summer, speaking at more events in Bristol, Brighton, London, before returning to Belfast for the Feile an Phobail. I was in conversation with the eminent Belfast writer Glenn Patterson at a standing-room only event at the Culturlann Arts Centre in West Belfast, the area of the city where my real-life assault and the novel’s events took place. 

Culturlann, Winnie M Li in conversation with Glenn Patterson about her new book Dark Chapter. pictured: Winnie M Li with Glenn Patterson, Councillor Geraldine McAteer and Daniel Lawton (US Consul General) 0408JC17

Culturlann, Winnie M Li in conversation with Glenn Patterson about her new book Dark Chapter. pictured: Winnie M Li with Glenn Patterson, Councillor Geraldine McAteer and Daniel Lawton (US Consul General) 0408JC17

I also led a discussion group with women from the Falls Women’s Centre, and popped down to Dublin for a double book launch with the author Clar Ni Chonghaile at the legendary Hodges & Figgis bookstore there. In Belfast, there was a fair amount of press coverage, including articles with The Belfast Telegraph, Belfast Media Group, Irish News, and this television piece with UTV News.

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Anyway, I’m supposed to be not working (though I have just spent time updating this webpage… ha), but when I get back to London next week, there’ll be plenty more events and news to announce. I have a busy autumn ahead of me! 

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A Lancôme campaign, a live TV interview… People, remember my book!

We’re still in the buzz of International Women’s Day 2017, so I am very honoured (and slightly amused) to have been chosen by Lancôme as one of 40 powerful women to be featured in the My Shade My Power campaign for their new line of Teint Idole Ultra Wear foundation. 

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Wait, what? As their foundation comes in 40 shades of skin tone, the new campaign features 40 diverse women who have been impressive in different industries and professional fields. Very humbling to be in the same group as cultural icons like Gurinder Chadha, Bonnie Greer, and Malorie Blackman. The campaign will be in the UK and Ireland all spring, and you’ll soon see posters and handouts in stores as well!

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Aside from makeup ads (for which I did NOT get paid, but this underpaid writer could definitely use the money), I’ve been pretty busy writing and speaking.  I’ve started writing for Media Diversified, and my article on Hollywood’s Awards Season Obsession with Rape and Sexual Assault was quite popular.  It’s true: each year, prestige pictures roll out with plum roles for actors to play rape survivors and rapists (and hopefully win awards), but how well do these films reflect the lived reality of rape and sexual assault?

I was in New York and Boston earlier this week, and did a live TV interview with i24 News — on their program ‘Stateside’ with David Shuster.  The Marine photo scandal is still raging in the US, so they asked me to comment and gave me a chance to talk about my upcoming novel DARK CHAPTER.

Guess I can tick ‘live TV interview with international news channel in Times Square’ off my list!

In Boston, I’d been invited to speak at my alma mater Harvard’s 50th Anniversary Symposium for the Folklore and Mythology degree.  Yes, that’s what I got my BA in, and it was truly wonderful and reaffirming to talk about the impact of a humanities education on my life and how I am still using storytelling (to a very large degree!) in the work that I do.

Finally, my red-eye flight landed back in London on International Women’s Day, and I somehow made it through five hours of class to chair a fascinating panel discussion that evening for The Malala Fund.  This was on the importance of girls’ education worldwide, and followed a charity screening of the documentary ‘I AM MALALA.’  I had the chance to speak with an impressive panel of women working on gender equality, including representatives of Women 4 Africa, Educate Girls, The Malala Fund.

But there will be plenty more of such panels this weekend at the sold-out 7th annual Women of the World Festival at the SouthBank Centre.  It turns out I’m speaking/chairing at FOUR different events over the next few days there (all on rape and sexual assault, of course).   

Saturday, March 11, 3pm: Deciding Whose Story Gets Told 

Sunday, March 12, 11:30am: Q&A panel following the World Premiere of ‘Foreign Body’

Sunday, March 12, 6:15pm: Chairing the Discussion Group on Giving Testimony about Sexual Assault and Abuse

Tuesday, March 14, 5:30pm: Chairing a 7pm Discussion Group following South of Forgiveness

This last event is the re-programming of the controversial TED Talk speakers Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger (a rape survivor and her rapist who share the stage), which generated an angry online petition to have the event moved out of the WoW Festival.  WoW, to their credit, moved the event and have felt it was important to enable conversation with survivors to hear their thoughts on the topic.  So it promises to be a heady, but vital discussion.  Hope to see some of you at the SouthBank this weekend!

US & UK book deals for my debut novel!

YES – it’s finally, actually happening!  I am absolutely beyond thrilled (and relieved) to announce my debut novel, Dark Chapter, will be published worldwide next year — in North America by Polis Books and in the UK/Ireland by Legend Press.  Both are dynamic independent publishers, which have been going from strength to strength in recent years. So I am very pleased to be part of these teams on both sides of the Atlantic, and to work with them on finding innovative ways to connect with audiences.   After all, one main reason I wrote this novel was to start a more public conversation about the many angles to sexual assault — and I’m glad to have two fantastic publishers make that possible in my home countries. My agents were thrilled to close these deals – here’s their announcement!

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And here’s the Polis Books announcement.  They call my novel ‘bold, riveting, and above all, human.’ I’m liking those words!  I was very lucky to have these words of praise from New York Times-bestselling author Marti Leimbach:

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Marti’s novel Age of Consent is out now, and the encouragement of other authors and advocates on this issue has been vital for me.

In Sweden, Norstedts (publisher of Stieg Larsson, Margaret Atwood, and Elena Ferrante, among others) have already signed up to publish Dark Chapter.  So watch this space for news on publication dates and more publishers!

Asian Women of Achievement Awards – I’ve been shortlisted!

I’m very honored to have been shortlisted for the prestigious Asian Women of Achievement Awards in the Social and Humanitarian category, for my work on the issue of sexual assault and consent, including launching the Clear Lines Festival.  The awards are meant ‘to celebrate the often unsung Asian heroines of British life’ so… hey, I appreciate that!  Awards evening is May 12 at the London Hilton on Park Lane.  Looking forward to it!

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Speaking of Clear Lines, we’ve recently sent out our Spring 2016 newsletter, which you can read here.  And on March 12, I had the opportunity to run an important discussion group on sexual assault and abuse at the Women of the World Festival (WOW) at the South Bank Centre, on behalf of Clear Lines.  This followed the Sexual Assault and Abuse: Giving Testimony session, where I spoke on the panel, chaired by Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of the South Bank Centre. Overall, WOW was a fantastic weekend, full of inspiring talks and performances, addressing all sorts of issues related to achieving greater gender equality. Many thanks especially to the survivors, witnesses, and supporters who came shared, listened, and spoke out at our discussion group.

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Leading up to WOW, I wrote this opinion piece for The Huffington Post on the Oscars — did you notice the issue of sexual abuse was center-stage at the Academy Awards this year?  That’s progress!  As well as this blog post for Polis: Journalism and Society at the LSE, on the importance of celebrity, solidarity, and activism around sexual assault.

For now, I’m off to New England and New York for a short break, and will be back in London in mid-April… whereupon I’ll have to start working on my PhD upgrade in earnest. Lots of exciting things happening at the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE – we were recently ranked 3rd best Media Studies Department in the world… Not too shabby, eh?

 

Reclaim the Night, Women of the World & more

I’ve been invited to speak at the first-ever Reclaim the Night March at the University of East Anglia, so I’m headed to Norwich on Saturday, Feb 20th.  Many thanks to the UEA Students’ Union for inviting me — I’m looking forward to hearing from other activists as we speak out about against rape, sexual assault, and gender-based violence.  Never spoken at a rally before, but there’s always a first.  And check out the DJ-style billing!

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In the meantime, remember to book your Saturday day passes for the Women of the World Festival at the South Bank Centre.  On Saturday, March 12th, I’ll be on the Rape: Giving Testimony panel AND I’ll be co-leading the discussion group afterward, on behalf of the Clear Lines Festival.  Hope to see you there!

Speaking of festivals, I had a fantastic time at the One Billion Rising Festival, where I chaired the opening and closing panels on Violence Against Women: How can we achieve revolutionary change?  Lots of lively and inspiring discussion, along with amazing women who approach the topic from various legal, health, and artistic angles in their work.

L-R: Thea Tadiar, Tessa Hart, me, Pavan Amara in One Billion Rising colors

L-R: Thea Tadiar, Tessa Hart, me, Pavan Amara in One Billion Rising colors

And on Thursday, Feb 25th, I’m running part of an ‘impact’ seminar at the London School of Economics, for PhD students funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.  It’s on how academic researchers can have an impact outside the academy… the event’s closed to the public, but let’s hope there will be a trickle-down (or trickle-out?) effect!

 

Upcoming festival talks in Feb and March

This week is the inaugural Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness Week in the UK, and I’ve been part of an active social media conversation at #ItsNotOk. I’ll also be chairing the opening panel at the One Billion Rising Festival on Sunday, Feb 7th.  We’ll discuss the importance of the One Billion Rising campaign and other activism movements against gender-based violence.  The talk is free (taking place right after The Vagina Monologues) and you can book tickets in advance here.  There’s also loads of other performances and workshops during the 7-day festival — be sure to check it out!

And in March, I’ll be speaking at the excellent Women of the World Festival at the Southbank Centre on Saturday the 12th.  The full programme isn’t up yet, but you can book a Saturday day pass — their lineup is never short of inspiring!

Other than that, I’m plugging along on my PhD work at the LSE and continuing to collaborate with other artists, thinkers, and activists on the issue.  Here’s a video of me speaking at last year’s Clear Lines Festival on media representations of sexual assault and what it’s like to have your own attack reported in the press:

A Swedish book deal & my current PhD research at the LSE

Happy 2016!  This update is very overdue, but I haven’t had much spare time these past few months, ever since starting my PhD.  But more on that later…

The first bit of exciting news is that my debut novel Dark Chapter has its first publication deal — it’ll be coming out in Sweden in Spring 2017 thanks to Norstedts, one of Sweden’s most prestigious publishing houses.  They also publish Margaret Atwood, Elena Ferrante, Colm Tóibín, and they discovered Stieg Larsson, so it’s not bad company to be in! The deal was listed at the top of Publishers Weekly Hot International Book Properties in November. I’m looking forward to publishers making the book available in other countries… I hope you are, too!

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Alongside my creative writing, I’ve begun my PhD at the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics. I’ll be researching the impact of social media on the public dialogue about rape and sexual assault — a very topical subject, and obviously, one which I feel strongly about, given my own experience and exploration of the issue. You can watch a video and read an article on my research here:

At the end of October, I spoke at the Feminism in London Conference, as a nominee for the annual Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize.  I didn’t win in the end, but it was an honor to be at the awards ceremony, both as an Individual Award nominee and as a representative of the Clear Lines Festival (nominated for the Group Award).  To have the chance to meet the other shortlisted women — and hear about their collective efforts working against gender-based violence — was nothing short of inspiring.

Me and Kate Llewellyn representing Clear Lines

Me and Kate Llewellyn representing Clear Lines

Speaking of Clear Lines, we have begun to release videos from the festival online.  You can watch them for free here, including videos of me speaking on the panel about news coverage of sexual assault, commenting on what it’s like to have your own rape reported in the media.   There’s also videos from our Spoken Word Night, featuring some very talented poets, and more videos will pop up over the next few months.

You can read my end-of-2015 round-up here.  Looking forward to what 2016 will bring!

Prize nominations, a literary agent, a feature in the Irish Times — exciting stuff

It’s been a busy few months for me since the Clear Lines Festival… I’ve been doubly shortlisted for the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize, awarded annually to recognize women working against male violence.  This year for the individual prize, they focused on women who use writing in their activism, so I’m quite humbled to be nominated alongside other, more prolific women who write regularly for The Guardian or have had entire books published.  Clear Lines was also nominated for the group prize, along with three fantastic organizations: Million Women Rise, Sisters Uncut, and Rights of Women.  Anyway, I’ll be speaking on Sunday afternoon, October 25th, at the Feminism in London Conference, and the winners will be announced at the closing event shortly afterward.

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A recent newspaper feature on me

As for my own book, well, I FINALLY finished my novel, Dark Chapter — and I’ve signed with The Pontas Agency, a very nifty boutique agency based in Barcelona, who specialize in representing international authors writing on globally relevant themes.  Click here to read their announcement about me joining the Pontas fold. It’s very exciting to work with them and to join their distinguished list of clientele.

Me and Anna-Soler Pont, the Pontas CEO, right after I signed with them

Me and Anna-Soler Pont, the Pontas CEO, right after I signed with them

The Irish Times have recently run this feature article on me and my experiences leading up to writing the novel.  It opens with the first paragraph of Dark Chapter… Hope you enjoy the read!

Not bad! No.1 in The Irish Times Life & Style section

Not bad! No.1 in The Irish Times Life & Style section