A Poet in Exile: A Dialogue with Liao Yiwu

Harvard University's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies hosts a special lecture with Liao Yiwu.

In this public conversation, Professor David Der-Wei Wang from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University and Professor Merle Goldman, associate at Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, will have an engaging and interactive dialogue with Liao Yiwu on politics, literature, and public intellectual integrity in China and overseas.

Moderated by: Rowena He, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University

Liao Yiwu is a poet, novelist, oral historian, and musician. In 1989, he was sentenced to four years after he wrote the epic poem "Massacre," condemning the Chinese government crackdown. Liao remains one of China's most outspoken writers. Banned in mainland China, his works have been published abroad in translation, including The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up (2008), which has received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Since publication in Germany in July 2011, his 2004 book Testimonials has been on Der Spiegel’s best-seller list. Liao is on a US book tour to promote his new book, God is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived in the Communist China (September 2011). Liao received a Freedom to Write Award from the Independent Chinese PEN Centre in 2007. Continually harassed by the Chinese government, he has been living in Berlin after escaping from China this summer.