Click on the above picture for a larger image. I lived in Hong Kong for 17 years. That is (could be) me on the right reading a newspaper review of my latest mystery novel on Kennedy Road, Hong Kong.
My bio (sort of)(more or less)(kind of)(so to speak)
Dean Barrett was trained as a Chinese linguist at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California and, at graduation, was chosen to present original stage material on China. After serving with the Army Security Agency in East and Southeast Asia, he pursued graduate studies in Chinese Area Studies at San Francisco State College and received his Masters Degree in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii.
Mr. Barrett has lived in Asia for 35 years as writer, editor, photographer and publisher. He wrote and photographed several non-fiction books on Asia and edited several cultural and travel magazines. He also wrote hundreds of articles on Asia and was the winner of several writing and editing awards including the PATA Grand Prize for Excellence for writing on Asia, particularly on Thailand and on Chinese culture. He wrote a weekly satire column for the Hong Kong Standard for five years under the pseudonym, Uncle Yum Cha ("Uncle Drink Tea").
Mr. Barrett has written extensively on Hong Kong's traditional fishing community - the text for a non-fiction book on the fishing traditions of southern China, and a fairytale set in a Chinese fishing village: The Boat Girl and the Magic Fish. His novels on Thailand are Memoirs of a Bangkok Warrior and Kingdom of Make-Believe and Skytrain to Murder. His novels set in China are Hangman’s Point, Thieves Hamlet and A Love Story: The China Memoirs of Thomas Rowley. His mystery novel set in New York City starring a Chinese detective from Beijing is Murder in China Red. His latest non-fiction work is travel literature on China: Don Quixote in China: The Search for Peach Blossom Spring.
Two of his recent books on Thailand are Murder at the Horny Toad Bar & Other Outrageous Tales of Thailand and The Go Go dancer who Stole My Viagra & other Poetic Tragedies of Thailand. Dragon Slayer consists of three novellas with Chinese themes. He has written several film scripts set in Asia which have been sold or optioned. His novel, Identity Theft: Alzheimer's in America, Sex in Thailand, Tangles of the Mind, appeared in 2008. Permanent Damage, the sequel to Skytrain to Murder, was published in 2010.
Mr. Barrett has had plays read or staged by various groups including Pasadena Playhouse of California, Virginia's Offstage Theatre, Florida's Riverside Theatre, Babylon Players, New York's Phoenix Ensemble, Vox Theater, Luminous Theater, Love Creek Productions, Fourplay Productions, PanAsia Repertory as well as several colleges and high schools across the United States. His plays have also been staged in nine countries.
He has written the book and lyrics for a musical set in Hong Kong in 1857 entitled FRAGRANT HARBOUR (music - Ed Linderman). The musical was selected to be staged on 42nd Street under the auspices of the National Alliance for Musical Theater. He has co-written a one-man show with the actor, Robert Lin, entitled MAO: Red Star & Blue Apple, and his play about the 19th century Chinese slave trade entitled, BARRACOON, recently had a reading with VOX Theater Company in Manhattan. His play, Bones of the Chinaman, won the South Asia prize of the BBC Radio Playwriting Award.
Mr. Barrett is a past member of the Dramatists Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America, an affiliate of BMI (librettist) and a member of the China Round Table.
Mr. Barrett now lives in Thailand.
