More on "Voices from Other Lands"

Journalist and writer Zhang Lijia's new book is "Socialism is Great!" A Worker's Memoir of the New China. [Photo:www.atlasandco.com]

March is looking to be a busy month in China for the literary festival circuit. Hong Kong, Shanghai, and for the first time Beijing, are all hosting international literary festivals with authors including Ian McEwan, Nury Vittachi, and Hari Kunzru as well as celebrated China writers Geremie Barme, James Kynge, and Paul French. The Bookworm café in Beijing will be hosting festival events from March 6t-21st, and in the next few weeks, I will be bringing you conversations with participating authors.

I start off with this week's guest, journalist and writer Zhang Lijia. Her new book "Socialism is Great!" A Worker's Memoir of the New China published by Atlas Books, is moving account of her experience working in a missile factory in Nanjing and the simultaneous changes of a new China in the 1980s. Zhang later moved to the UK where she received her Masters in Creative Writing from the University of London. She now writes for a variety of international news publications. Zhang Lijia will be speaking at all three festivals, including the Bookworm on March 11th. I caught up with her to talk about her new book "Socialism is Great!" A Worker's Memoir of the New China.

www.beijingbookworm.com
www.lijiazhang.com