Award-winning author Ha Jin will read today from his fifth novel, A Free Life, for the Inprint Brown Reading Series.’ A Free Life explores the lives of a Chinese family that immigrates to the United States during the Cultural Revolution.
The reading will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby St.
The evening’s events include a half-hour reading, a presentation, a book sale and signing and an on-stage interview conducted by St. John Flynn, director of cultural programming at KUHS.
‘We try to create a very intimate yet professional type of event. The bulk of the evening is spent with the audience hearing from the writers themselves,’ Krupa Parikh, Inprint’s marketing and outreach director, said.
Jin, who teaches fiction writing at Boston University, has won several awards such as the Flannery O’Connor Award for Fiction.
‘We’ve had evenings when we’ve heard these amazing anecdotes from authors about their families, about their stories, about why they were inspired to write something,’ Parikh said. ‘To hear the author share something about their writing style and their inspiration is memorable.’
Inprint is a non-profit organization that fosters and feeds a stimulating literary environment. Parikh said he has seen Houston’s literary scene flourish since Inprint’s founding in 1983.
‘We’re trying to reach into different communities, and we’re trying to give everybody a chance to engage with the written word and become inspired by it,’ Parikh said.
Because Inprint’s readings are presented in association with the UH creative writing program, authors often visit campus for question and answer sessions or craft talks.
Students are welcome to attend Inprint readings free of charge if tickets are still available at the door before the event.
Tickets can also be purchased in advance at www.inprinthouston.org for $5 each.
