Taiwanese author Kevin Chen (陳思宏) on Monday kicked off a four-day book tour of the United States to promote “Ghost Town,” an award-winning novel informed by his experience growing up gay in a small town in Taiwan.
The novel, which sets in Yongjing Township, Changhua County was a “self-reflection” about life, Chen told a crowd of around 60 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in New York on Monday.
“At first, we wanted to escape from the ghost place so badly, and we finally succeeded in escaping through studying abroad,” Chen said. “One day, you are bound to see a compass emerging inside yourself that points to the place you are from and makes you reflect on yourself.”
“Ghost Town” follows the story of Chen Tien-hung, who flees his disapproving family in Yongjing to live in Germany. Chen Tien-hung later returns to Yongjing after serving a prison sentence over his involvement in the accidental death of his boyfriend.
The Mandarin-language novel, first published in 2019, was awarded the Grand Prize at Taiwan’s Literature Awards and the Golden Tripod Award in 2020, and has been translated into English, Korean, Vietnamese and Italian.
The Taipei Culture Center in New York, part of Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, organized the book tour in the city and Washington D.C. to celebrate the release of the English hardback version of the novel in the U.S. on Oct. 25.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel