Meet the Author: Philip Bowring

We’re delighted to have Philip Bowring at Lit Books on March 10 to talk about his new book, Empire of the Winds, together with Eddin Khoo, poet, writer, translator and founder of Pusaka.

Bowring is a journalist who has been based in Asia since 1973. Born in England and educated at Cambridge University, he spent his earlier career as a financial journalist in London and Sydney as well as a freelancer in Africa. From 1992 to 2011, he was a columnist on Asian affairs for the International Herald Tribune. He was editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, and prior to that, a regional correspondent for The Financial Times. Today he divides his time between writing columns, books and helping develop www.asiasentinel.com, a news and analysis website.

In his latest book, Empire of the Winds, Bowring examines the surrounding waters of the Southeast Asian region, and how it has always been uniquely important as a corridor connecting East Asia to India, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. He provides a history of the world’s largest and most important archipelago and its adjacent coasts. He tells the story of the peoples and lands located at this crucial maritime and cultural crossroads, from its birth following the last Ice Age to today.

Eddin with be talking with Bowring about why this maritime region has its own identity and interests distinct from mainland Asia and how it has played a far bigger role in world history than is generally recognised. They will also discuss why this history now matters more than ever in a multi-polar world and regardless of the China/US rivalry.

FREE ADMISSION.