Special guest speaker: Peter Hessler
Center for Korean Studies Auditorium
Peter Hessler obtained his undergraduate training at Princeton University (BA, 1992), and was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford. He subsequently earned a second BA in English at Oxford in 1994. His connection to China was forged in 1996–1998, when, as a Peace Corps volunteer, he taught English and American literature at Fuling Teachers College in Sichuan.
Mr. Hessler is a frequent contributor to National Geographic Magazine and is also the author of the following prize-winning books:
Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China’s Past and Present (2006, HarperCollins)—finalist for the National Book Award 2006; named a “Notable Book of 2006” by The New York Times and one of the year’s best books by The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, and The Minneapolis Star-Tribune; named Best Asian Book of 2006 by Time Magazine’s Asian edition; translated into Chinese, German, Italian, Dutch, and Portuguese.
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (2001, HarperCollins)—winner of the 2001 Kiriyama Prize; short listed for the 2002 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; listed as an outstanding book of 2001 by The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times; translated into Chinese, Thai, Korean, and Hungarian.
He is currently working on a third book in his China trilogy.