The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host author Michael Meyer and his talk "Covering China from the Ground Up – and Turning Reporting into Book" on February 20. An overview of this stop of his book tour, from the latest ASC newsletter:
Since first arriving in the country as a Peace Corps volunteer 20 years ago, Michael Meyer has witnessed China from the village and neighborhood level. His writing combines immersive reporting, memoir and archival research. Meyer’s award-winning first book, The Last Days of Old Beijing, documents daily life in the capital's oldest neighborhood as the city remade itself for the Olympics. His second book, published this month, In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China, depicts life on a family’s rice farm as it becomes a corporate agribusiness. Meyer will show slides from his research, and talk about the challenges of reporting from China and how a freelance writer can fund and produce books that reach a wide audience. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.The talk begins at 2:00 pm in the O'Hara Student Center Ballroom (campus map) and is free and open to the public.