HANNAH CAO

HANNAH CAO
writerhannahcao@gmail.com    
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Author and bookstore owner, based in Dresden, Germany. Grew up writing in English so the parents wouldn’t be able to understand her diary entries. Lived in London, the city that birthed the muse still fuelling her now. Avid reader with a penchant for cinema that makes her cry, art that feels 
lists, and old meaningful things. 

CONTACT
WORKS

Books
Foe ***Upcoming
The Evening Party 
Café at 46 Old Street 
Seashore
EventsFOE Book Launch Party – Nov. 7, 2025, 19.00–21.00 @ Read The Room, Dresden, Germany
Press
SZ: Zwischen Poesie und Matcha: Dresdens neues Literaturcafé lockt internationale Gäste


Erato Magazine: Growing Up Between Cultures, Mental Blocks, and Writing
2023

Spirit You: Interviewing Creative Folk
2019      




Last Updated 24.10.31
CURRENT



FOE
Foe, by Hannah Cao
Releases 7th Nov 2025
Fiction

When university student Sana Mercer vanishes after an ordinary night in her dorm room, the town is quick to speculate – runaway, accident, or something far darker.

A year passes, leaving detective Eden Nurain with nothing but dead ends. When she is set on a case of another missing girl, Mei Xiu, the dots start connecting.

In this haunting tale about obsession and memory, Foe expands on the fragile question of where one’s identity begins and ends.

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THE EVENING PARTY
 The Evening Party, by Hannah Cao
Published 2024
Poetry Collection

    The Evening Party is a series of prose and poems, unveiling hidden stories of strangers brought together for the same rooftop party in London.

    They are each riddled with the anxieties of modern age, the complexities of love, the challenges of dysfunctional families and other intricate relationships, and a pervasive sense of being trapped in their own existence.

    This collection reveals a poignant tapestry of human connection and isolation. The Evening Party unveils the extraordinary in the mundane, breathing life into the passage of time and the memories that define us. The Evening Party is a mirror, an usher, and a reminder to savour moments that otherwise slip through our fingers unnoticed.

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    CAFÉ AT 46 OLD STREET
    Café at 46 Old Street, by Hannah Cao
    Published 2021
    Fiction

    Hannah Cao’s debut novel, CAFE AT 46 OLD STREET, is a story on finding family, identity, expectations, and failure, and finding freedom in growth and forgiveness.

    Sometimes all you really need is a place to call home.

    Hanh arrives in London with nothing but her sketchbook and her journal. She is starry-eyed at the idea of starting a new life in the city of opportunities— where she is no longer forced to sit at Friday dinners with her father's new wife and kids, and where, on the downside, she is no longer with her first love.

    Winston has always been a little out-of-sync. As if to prove how disappointing he looks next to his Golden brother, he just dropped out of university and, on top of that, was dumped by his girlfriend over text. Living a life of dark espresso without the sugar, he is struggling to find a role in his own life.

    Clementine is a quirky rarity, a splash of nosy and a cup of eccentric, destined to be the driving force of her parents' otherwise sleepy coffee shop — if she doesn't lose it to the looming competition threatening her eviction.

    Alexander grew up unable to fit in, having moved from Malta to London with his overachieving mother at a young age and constantly changing schools. His quiet nature is a curtain to his fears, but his delightful tarts are a reflection of how others feel about him.

    From the outside, their lives are simple: they’re a group of an overjoyed newbie, a strictly sober bartender, an exuberant coffee shop owner and a quiet baker trying to find their place in the world. But still waters run deep in the Cafe At 46 Old Street, so when reality comes catching up to them, threatening their routine and crumbling their lofty walls, their lives are changed in a matter of a year.

    Will they find their way back home?

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    SEASHORE
    Seashore, by Hannah Cao
    Published 2019
    Poetry

    Seashore is a debut poetry collection divided in six sections, highlighting different chapters of Hannah Cao’s life.

    This collection includes tales from her life in London, an abundance of heartbroken notes to past lovers, letters to her estranged father, love poems to a Valentine, and a kind hug to herself (and others who may need it).

    It is a journey to comfort, a journey to the shore.

    With illustrations by Ngoc Anh Phan.

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    © Hannah Cao