A crowd of over a hundred gathered in Murkland Hall on Friday to listen to renowned author Ha Jin read from his newest stories. Ha Jin, the latest speaker in the English Department’s Speaker Series.

English professor and fellow writer Andrew Parsons feels that Ha Jin’s significance goes far beyond his writing. “Ha Jin has a background that highlights the importance of writers and other artists when it comes to promoting political freedom and cultural understanding,” said Parsons, who explained that Ha Jin is unwelcome in China because he has written work that is critical of the government. “Implicit in this reaction by the Chinese government is recognition of the power that writers have to effect social change that champions the individual over the interests of a state or government,” he explained.

Jin emigrated from China when he was 29. He won a scholarship to Brandeis University to complete a doctorate he began in China. His first novel, “Waiting” (1999), won the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, a prestigious award for first time novelists. Jin won the PEN/Faulkner again for “War Trash” (2004), and has won several similarly prestigious awards for his short story collections. He currently teaches at Boston University, emphasizing the character of the emigrant writer in his classes.

Jin explained before his reading that despite all of his awards, he “always feel(s) like a beginner” whenever he writes. The novel he is currently working on is the first to be set in America. The main character, Na Wu, is a new immigrant and writer who “wants to feel hope,” but without a supporting Chinese community, he “decides to write in English.” Jin himself wrote his novels in English first, which were later translated into Chinese.