A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:
We thought it would be a good time to re-share this past episode about the Ghost Month in Taiwan. It’s November first, the day after Halloween, October 31st which is actually short for all Saints’ Eve, and November first is All Saints’ Day, a Christian feast dedicated to celebrating departed saints. When you really get into it there are many festivals around the world that center around celebrating or commemorating dead spirits, souls, and ghosts.
In Taiwan the Ghost Month happens during the seventh month of the Lunar calendar, which was not that long ago. Actually, this year it was in August. This week’s episode features an interview that I did in 2014 with author Ed Lin about his novel, Ghost Month.
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
- What the Ghost Month is and how it relates to Ed’s book by the same title
- The superstitions related to the Ghost Month
- Ed’s novel the Ghost Month
- The research that Ed did for his novel
- Ed’s source in organized crime
- Ed’s interest in the murder mystery genre
- How Ed has been inspired by mystery book author Chester Himes
- Ed’s character Robert Chow, a Chinese American detective who is featured in a number of his mystery novels
- Ed’s writing process
- How Ed immersed himself in the time period when he was writing about Chinatown in 1976
- Why Ed chose to write about Chinatown in 1976
- Ed’s advice for aspiring authors
- Ed’s book tour for Ghost Month
Related Links:
Ed Lin’s website: https://www.edlinforpresident.com/
Ed Lin on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ed-Lin-80513225734
Ed Lin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edlinforpresident/
Ed Lin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertchow
Chester Himes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Himes
The Ghost Festival and Ghost Month in Taiwan (a blog post by Outreach for Taiwan): https://oftaiwan.org/culture/ghost-festival/