Alumni Spotlights
Winnie M Li - Author & Activist
Winnie M Li is an author and activist. Her latest novel Complicit was a New York Times’ Editors’ Choice, listed among the Best Crime Novels of 2022 by The Irish Times, and shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Prize for outstanding second novel. A Harvard graduate and George Mitchell Scholar, Winnie studied at University College Cork and later worked as a film producer before her life was disrupted by a violent stranger rape in Belfast in 2008. Inspired by that experience, her debut novel Dark Chapter was translated into ten languages and won The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize.
She is currently writing the screenplay adaptation of it. Winnie was profiled in the TV3 Ireland documentary Unbreakable: True Lives, nominated for Irish Tatler’s Woman of the Year Awards, and holds an honorary doctorate of law from the National University of Ireland in recognition of her writing and activism. American by birth, Winnie currently lives in the English countryside.
Course(s) studied and year(s) of graduation:
MA in English (Gender and Sexuality in Irish Writing), 2001
What led you to studying English at UCC?
I’d been selected for one of the inaugural George Mitchell Scholarships, which allow American students to pursue a year of postgraduate study at Irish universities. At my undergraduate institution, I’d studied Folklore and Mythology, specialising in Celtic Studies, and a scholar there had suggested UCC. But the taught programme in Gender and Sexuality in Irish Writing in the English Department really appealed to me, because it seemed more relevant to understanding contemporary society.
Best memories from your time in Cork?
Volunteering for the Cork International Film Festival. At the time, it was sponsored by Murphy’s, so there was a lot of drink… but also an incredible programme of arthouse cinema from around the world. So it was fun, but also really eye-opening. It was the first time I’d met real-life filmmakers, and I realised cinematic storytelling could also be a profession. In fact, it was a filmmaker I’d met at the Cork Film Festival, who later gave me my first foot in the door into working in film in London.
Can you tell us about your latest book Complicit? What influenced you to tell this story?
Complicit is a mystery set in the world of filmmaking. 39-year-old Sarah Lai teaches screenwriting at a local college, but was once an aspiring film producer ten years ago. When she’s approached by a New York Times journalist about a powerful male producer she once worked with, she’s forced to confront the truth of her ruined career in the film industry -- and how she may have been complicit in certain injustices. It’s obviously inspired by the #MeToo movement, but I also wanted to channel my own experiences working in the film industry as a young woman — and as a sexual violence survivor, who has done a lot of thinking and consulting on how we tell these kinds of stories in the media.
What would your advice be for any aspiring authors?
Write what you’re passionate about. Write the kind of book that you think the world needs.
What motivates you?
The chance to learn and experience something new. Visiting new places, forming connections with people, and understanding the human condition through storytelling. Also, any form of travel!