Truth in Fiction: Introduction | Episode 25

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Hong Kong Central skyline as seen from Tsim Sha Tsui (photo by the author)

Each week on The Matterhorn podcast, I discuss a way to layer fictions and discover the nuances of truth, using my novel as a catalyst but looking at other works of fiction as well as theory and interdisciplinary ideas. I also spend a little time on places & spaces, as part of a continued discourse on these ideas.

Thursday, I’ll be back with a 5-minute actionable version of today’s show, and Saturday I’ll share the next chapter of A Hong Kong Story. If you want to choose which posts you receive via email, please visit this page.

I’m keeping all of this completely free for listeners/readers with the option of patronage by upgrading to paid and support through my Bookshop.org affiliate page. Patrons are welcome to join our private chats via the Substack app or website. Use my referral program if you can’t afford subscription but want to chat. Thanks for joining us today!

Today’s episode is an introduction to the new project. See the Table of Contents below for a preview of this season:

Table of Contents

A full transcript is accessible at the tab above on the website version.

Keywords:

• New project! What, when, why

• How this season extends The Matterhorn’s ongoing conversation

• A Hong Kong Story / how I write fiction

• Truth in Fiction — Woolf & Derrida

• Literary examples of layering

• Spaces & Places: section of the podcast each week, prompted by this sound —

Texts:

Books are linked to my affiliate page on Bookshop.org where I receive 10% of profits on any purchase. 80% of their profits go to independent bookstores. This helps to keep all my work paywall-free. Thanks for your support!

• “A Room of One’s Own,” Virginia Woolf

• The Truth in Painting, Jacques Derrida

• “Immigrant imaginaries in the filmic apartment ellipsis : a study of New York and Hong Kong,” my dissertation, available via HKU Scholars Hub

• Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami

• The Sentence, Louise Erdrich

• The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas

• City of Glass, Paul Auster

• The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

Summer Travel: Maine

10. The City as Text

19. Japan

Paul Auster

The Culture of Everyday Life

My talk with Pratt Institute (NYC, January 2023) —