Kǒngmíng: A Memoir (of Sorts)

In Kǒngmíng, Brant von Goble reflects on his unprepared leap into teaching English in Hunan, China, during the late 2000s. Through fragmented memories of shortwave radio, cultural clashes, and quiet isolation, he traces his journey from disorientation to unexpected belonging. The narrative culminates during a deserted Spring Festival on campus, where, alone under a moonless sky, he watches glowing sky lanterns-Kǒngmíng dēng-rise silently across a dark lake, mirroring his own fleeting sense of freedom and the ghostly persistence of memory.