Hannah Michell was born in England and raised in Seoul. Her first novel, THE DEFECTIONS, was published in France and the UK in 2014 to wide acclaim. Her second novel, EXCAVATIONS (One World, 2023), was named one of the best crime novels of 2023 by LitHub and one of the top ten mysteries of 2023 by Publishers Weekly. She has taught at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the Dominican University of California.
Upcoming Courses
In the upcoming winter term, Hannah Michell will be teaching a creative writing course at Leipzig University. This class begins with character as the central entry point into the craft of fiction. It will explore how voice, point of view, dialogue, and plot all emerge from a deep understanding of character. Through close readings of exemplary works, this seminar offers the opportunity to analyze the techniques of authors who inspire and inform our own writing.
Students in the MA program will be able to enroll in Michell’s seminar “Reframing the Frame: Asian/American Representations in Film and Media.” This graduate seminar examines the shifting representations of Asians and Asian Americans in US media, tracing a trajectory from early Hollywood cinema to contemporary independent film, television, and digital platforms. It will critically analyze the socio-historical forces that shaped dominant images and explore how these representations have been challenged, subverted, and reimagined in Asian American productions over time.
More on the Picador Professorship
The Picador Guest Professorship for Literature is a public-private partnership between Leipzig University, the DAAD and Holtzbrinck Berlin - Inspire Together. It aims to promote intercultural exchange and make contemporary US American literature visible in Germany.
More information can be found here: