Lao She, one of China’s eminent modern writers, wrote two of his greatest novels in the heady world of 1920’s London.  Anne Witchard, a specialist in the modernist milieu of London between the wars, reveals in her new book the writer’s encounter with British high modernism, and literature from Dickens to Conrad to Joyce.  Join us to learn more about “Lao She in London,” published under the imprint of the Royal Asiatic Society China, and about how London shaped one of China’s most influential writers and changed the course of Chinese modernism.  (The book talk will be followed by the world premiere of a one-act play produced by Elephant in the Room and adapted by Paul French from Lao She’s story “Ding” about one man’s struggle between China and modernity.)