Xu Xi has been called a “pioneer writer from Asia in English” by the New York Times, and a pioneer of a distinct kind of diasporic language. Shortlisted for the Man Asia award, her latest work, Habit of a Foreign Sky, moves between Hong Kong and New York, as the biracial female protagonist, Gail, loses her mother and only child and is left with her career as an executive at a global investment bank. Don Lee, author ofYellow calls the novel “Smart, eloquent” and “a scintillating accomplishment.” Join the author for an intimate conversation at Asia Society with her editor, Anna Sherman, on the genesis of this global novel and how we find direction when we think we’ve lost everything.

Xu Xi, an award-winning fiction writer and essayist, has also edited several literary anthologies including Fifty-Fifty: New Hong Kong Writing.She currently teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts and is Writer-in-Residence at City University of Hong Kong, where she founded the first international MFA program that specializes in Asian writing in English.

Anna Sherman is an Asia-based freelance editor. Her work for Haven Books includes the world poetry anthology Not a Muse and Xu Xi’s Habit of a Foreign Sky.