Winnie M Li is an author and activist, who has worked in the creative industries over three continents.  Taiwanese-American and raised in New Jersey, Winnie studied Folklore and Mythology at Harvard, and later Irish Literature as a George Mitchell Scholar. Since then, she has written for travel guidebooks, produced independent feature films, programmed for film festivals, and developed eco-tourism projects. After earning an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, she now writes across a range of media, including fiction, theatre, journalism, and memoir.

Her debut novel, Dark Chapter, is a fictional retelling of her real-life stranger rape in Belfast, from both victim and perpetrator perspectives. It won The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize in 2017, was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, and shortlisted for The Author’s Club Best First Novel Award. It has been translated into ten languages and Winnie is currently adapting it for screen.  Her second novel Complicit was sold in a six-figure pre-empt to Orion Fiction, and later, in a heated five-way auction to Emily Bestler at Atria Books for US rights.  It came out in Summer 2022, was The New York Times ‘ monthly book club pick, and appeared on several Best of 2022 lists. 

Winnie is a recipient of grant funding from the Royal Society of Literature, Jerwood Arts, and the Arts Councils of England and Northern Ireland.  She served as a judge for the 2018 SI Leeds Literary Prize and regularly runs workshops and speaks about creative writing, creativity and trauma, and media and gender. 

Winnie is also Co-Founder of the Clear Lines Festival, the UK’s first-ever festival addressing sexual assault and consent through the arts and discussion. Her ongoing PhD research at the London School of Economics explores media engagement by rape survivors as a form of activism. Winnie has delivered over 150 public talks and appeared in TEDx London, The Guardian, The Mail on Sunday, The Times, The Independent, The LA Review of Books, The Chicago Tribune, The Irish Times, BBC World News, Sky News, Channel 4, and BBC Woman’s Hour, among other media outlets.  She has an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland, in recognition of her writing and activism. *

For UK & Irish publicity about Complicit, please contact her PR Jenna Petts –          jenna.petts (a) orionbooks.co.uk

For North American publicity about Complicit, please contact her PR Falon Kirby –          falon.kirby (a) simonandschuster.com

For the film & TV rights to Complicit, please contact her film agent Emily Hayward-Whitlock –    emily (a) theartistspartnership.co.uk

For any other queries about Winnie’s books, please contact her literary agent Robert Caskie – robert (a) robertcaskie.com

For Winnie’s media activism around sexual assault, you can also try the Angles Project at Heard 

You can also try reaching her directly on Instagram at winniemli, Twitter at @winniemli or via her author Facebook page.