The first woman to win a consecutive Southeast Asian Writers Award, Veeraporn Nitiprapha, will discuss her newest novel, “Memories of the Memories of the Black Rose Cat,” on Oct. 5.
Beginning at 4:45 p.m. in the A. D. White House Guerlac Room, Nitiprapha will talk about how her work explores Chinese migration and identity in Southeast Asia throughout the 20th century.
“We will have the extraordinary chance to hear and interact with one of Thailand’s most well-known novelists and public intellectuals,” said Arnika Fuhrmann, professor of Asian studies and interdisciplinary scholar of Southeast Asia.
“In this novel,” Fuhrmann explained, “Veeraporn Nitiprapha chronicles the lives of a migrant Chinese family in Thailand over several generations. What makes the work stand out especially is that it shows trans-Asia history, notions of identity, and the circulation of culture in entirely novel ways."
Using fantasy and feminized characters, Nitiprapha tells the story of one family from the beginning of the 20th century until the 1970s.
For those who attend Nitiprapha’s talk at the A.D. White House, Fuhrmann promises it will be a “unique opportunity for students and faculty to engage with a leading contemporary writer and intellectual from Southeast Asia.”
The talk is part of Nitiprapha’s fight to preserve minor migration histories and debunk myths of Chinese social and economic ascendancy.
The talk is hosted by the Department of Asian Studies and is co-sponsored by the Society for the Humanities, the Migrations Initiative, the Southeast Asia Program, the East Asia Program and the departments of comparative literature and literatures in English.
Hannah Mitchell '24 is a communications assistant for the College of Arts and Sciences
