Dr Julia Kuehn from the School of English was recently interviewed by the SCMP for an article on Somerset Maugham’s visits to and writings on Hong Kong and China.
December 16 marks the 50th anniversary of Maugham’s death. He remains one of Britain’s most famous and celebrated writers and he was greatly influenced by his travels in China and Southeast Asia. Although Maugham was born and died in France, and his ashes were scattered in England, some of his most admired work was inspired much closer to these shores...
“He is looking for human encounters not places,” says Kuehn, who does not think there is much substance about China in his work. Instead Maugham is quite brutal in his quest to find people and stories to collect, like an etymologist gathering insects, and it caused a great deal of resentment at the time. Hospitable colonial types divulged their secrets late in the night over one too many whisky and sodas, only to find themselves the subject in a work of bestselling literature.
Please click on the following link for the complete article:
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1886347/how-somerset-maughams-china-connection-gave-him-wealth-stories
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