Book Club and Author Talk: 'What We Left Unsaid' with Winnie M Li

Members of the public, staff and students welcome

Join the University of Birmingham Race Equality Staff Network for its inaugural book club event to discuss What We Left Unsaid. We will be joined by the author, Winnie M Li, to talk more about her books and career.

-----

Date and time: Wednesday 4th March 2026, 4.00pm-5.30pm

The book club discussion will take place between 4.00-4.45pm, with Winnie joining from 4.30pm for further discussion and Q&A. Feel free to join one or both parts of the event.

Location: Alan Walters Building, Seminar Room 1 (103) University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2SB

View our pages on getting to campus (including information on parking) and a physical accessibility guide to the Alan Walters Building.

Tickets are free, but please do cancel your booking if you can no longer make it, to enable attendees on the waitlist to join.

-----

On an unexpected road trip, three estranged siblings uncover a startling family secret and larger truths about being Asian American in a post-COVID world—from the author of the “dazzling and devastating” (Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author) thriller Complicit.
The Chu siblings haven’t seen each other in years but when they’re told that their ailing mother is scheduled for an operation next month, they agree to visit her together. Then their mother makes an odd request: before seeing her, they must go on a road trip together to the Grand Canyon.
Thirty years ago, a strange incident had aborted a previous family road trip there. No one’s ever really spoken about it, but during this journey, the middle-aged Chu siblings have no choice but to confront their childhood experience.
Together, Bonnie, Kevin, and Alex travel along Route 66—but as the trip continues, they realize the Great American Road Trip may not be what they expected. Facing their own prejudices and those of others, they somehow learn to bridge the distances between them, the present-day, and their past.
With “powerful and beautiful writing” (Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author), Winnie M Li weaves an emotive and eye-opening exploration of family, race, growing up, and what it means to be American.

-----

Dr. Winnie M Li is an author, activist, and educator. Taiwanese-American and originally from New Jersey, she has lived and worked in the creative industries in Ireland, Qatar, Singapore, and the UK.

Before becoming a novelist, she worked for an Oscar-nominated independent film production company in London, focusing on narrative feature and short films. She later programmed for film festivals and even dabbled in designing zoos and tourist attractions.

Winnie’s debut novel, Dark Chapter (2017), won The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize, was nominated for an Edgar Award, and has been translated into ten languages. She has recently adapted it for the screen. Her second novel, Complicit (2022), draws from her earlier career in the film industry and was described by The New York Times as “harrowing, timely, and thoroughly book-club worthy.” What We Left Unsaid is her third novel.

At the age of 29, Winnie’s life and career trajectory were profoundly disrupted when she became the victim of a violent stranger rape in Belfast. Driven by this experience, she later founded Clear Lines, the UK’s first festival addressing sexual assault and consent through the arts. She went on to complete her PhD at the London School of Economics on the emotional labour of ‘public’ rape survivors who appear in the media.

Winnie holds a BA in Folklore and Mythology from Harvard University, and an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland in recognition of her writing and activism. She has given over 200 public talks and appeared on the BBC, Sky News, Channel 4, The Guardian, The Times, The Irish Times, TEDx London, and other platforms. She is currently an at the University of Birmingham.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher University of Birmingham Race Equality Network