Brian Hioe is a Taipei-based writer, editor, translator, activist, and DJ who is best known for his journalism regarding Taiwan’s social and political landscape. Much of his work appears in New Bloom Magazine, an online magazine that he helped establish in 2014 to cover activism and youth politics in Taiwan and the Asia Pacific at large.

In this episode of the New Books Network, we talk with Brian about his debut fictional novel, Taipei at Daybreak (Repeater Books, 2025).

Taipei at Daybreak is a work of autofiction that draws heavy inspiration from Brian’s experiences with activist movements including not just Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement, but also Occupy Wall Street in the US and post-Fukushima disaster anti-nuclear protests in Japan.

Atop this undercurrent of activism, the novel dives into its protagonist's inner turmoil and coming-of-age, giving readers a highly personal insight into the nature of 2010s-era social movements.

Anthony Kao is a writer who intersects international affairs and cultural criticism. He founded/edits Cinema Escapist—a publication exploring the sociopolitical context behind global film and television—and also writes for outlets like The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Diplomat, and Eater.

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