THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED. PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE TO BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST
We are thrilled to announce that New York Times best-selling author, renowned journalist and ex-HKer Simon Winchester OBE has agreed to give a lecture to Society members about his newly released book Knowing What We Know. As the talk will coincide with the Mid-Autumn Festival, we will combine this event with a Chinese dinner in Chinatown.
Date: Thursday 19th October 2023
Venue: Restaurant in Chinatown
Time: 6.30pm Cash Bar and Book Signing; Lecture 7.00pm; Dinner 8.00pm
Simon Winchester OBE is a British-American author and journalist. In his career at The Guardian newspaper, Simon covered numerous significant events, including Bloody Sunday and the Watergate Scandal. He has written or contributed to more than a dozen non-fiction books, one novel and has contributed to several travel magazines, among them Condé Nast Traveler, Smithsonian Magazine, and National Geographic.
While working as Chief Foreign Feature Writer for the Sunday Times, he achieved some unintended notoriety in the spring of 1982 being captured in southern Patagonia during the Falklands War and held in prison in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina for three months.
After his return to freedom in England in July 1982 Simon was ready to take up a new assignment in Hong Kong. He remained in southern China for the next 12 years, covering a vast territory stretching from Siberia to Tasmania, from Burma to Hawaii, during which time he rejoined the Guardian and also accepted a freelance assignment as Asia Editor of the newly-established Conde Nast Traveler magazine, based in New York. His term with the Guardian then came to an abrupt end when his supervising editor was found to have been taking gifts from the KGB, and was fired. Simon remained in Hong Kong as a freelance writer, and then after the handover of the British colony to China in June 1997, went to live in New York.
It was here he wrote in 1998 his now famous The Professor and the Madman (published The Surgeon of Crowthorne in the UK) about the extraordinary story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, which was made into a movie starring Sean Penn and Mel Gibson in 2019.
Simon’s latest book Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic was released in April 2023. From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes this is a brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds. At a time when we seem to be stripping all value from the idea of knowing things – no need for maths, no need for map reading, no need for memorisation – are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness? Click here for more details or to purchase.
Simon’s book will also be available for purchase at the event and he is happy to sign them.
Space for this event is very limited, so please book early to confirm your place(s), by emailing communications@hkas.org.uk.