diff --git a/area_unix.go b/area_unix.go
index 333f268..3362861 100644
--- a/area_unix.go
+++ b/area_unix.go
@@ -76,22 +76,32 @@ func our_area_draw_callback(widget *C.GtkWidget, cr *C.cairo_t, data C.gpointer)
 
 var area_draw_callback = C.GCallback(C.our_area_draw_callback)
 
+func translateModifiers(state C.guint, window *C.GdkWindow) C.guint {
+	// GDK doesn't initialize the modifier flags fully; we have to explicitly tell it to (thanks to Daniel_S and daniels (two different people) in irc.gimp.net/#gtk+)
+	C.gdk_keymap_add_virtual_modifiers(
+		C.gdk_keymap_get_for_display(C.gdk_window_get_display(window)),
+		(*C.GdkModifierType)(unsafe.Pointer(&state)))
+	return state
+}
+
+func makeModifiers(state C.guint) (m Modifiers) {
+	if (state & C.GDK_CONTROL_MASK) != 0 {
+		m |= Ctrl
+	}
+	if (state & C.GDK_META_MASK) != 0 {
+		m |= Alt
+	}
+	if (state & C.GDK_SHIFT_MASK) != 0 {
+		m |= Shift
+	}
+	return m
+}
+
 // shared code for finishing up and sending a mouse event
 func finishMouseEvent(data C.gpointer, me MouseEvent, mb uint, x C.gdouble, y C.gdouble, state C.guint, gdkwindow *C.GdkWindow) {
 	s := (*sysData)(unsafe.Pointer(data))
-	// GDK doesn't initialize the modifier flags fully; we have to explicitly tell it to (thanks to Daniel_S and daniels (two different people) in irc.gimp.net/#gtk+)
-	C.gdk_keymap_add_virtual_modifiers(
-		C.gdk_keymap_get_for_display(C.gdk_window_get_display(gdkwindow)),
-		(*C.GdkModifierType)(unsafe.Pointer(&state)))
-	if (state & C.GDK_CONTROL_MASK) != 0 {
-		me.Modifiers |= Ctrl
-	}
-	if (state & C.GDK_META_MASK) != 0 {
-		me.Modifiers |= Alt
-	}
-	if (state & C.GDK_SHIFT_MASK) != 0 {
-		me.Modifiers |= Shift
-	}
+	state = translateModifiers(state, gdkwindow)
+	me.Modifiers = makeModifiers(state)
 	// the mb != # checks exclude the Up/Down button from Held
 	if mb != 1 && (state & C.GDK_BUTTON1_MASK) != 0 {
 		me.Held = append(me.Held, 1)
@@ -157,9 +167,38 @@ func our_area_motion_notify_event_callback(widget *C.GtkWidget, event *C.GdkEven
 
 var area_motion_notify_event_callback = C.GCallback(C.our_area_motion_notify_event_callback)
 
+// shared code for doing a key event
+func doKeyEvent(event *C.GdkEvent, data C.gpointer, up bool) bool {
+	var ke KeyEvent
+
+	e := (*C.GdkEventKey)(unsafe.Pointer(event))
+	s := (*sysData)(unsafe.Pointer(data))
+	keyval := e.keyval
+	if extkey, ok := extkeys[keyval]; ok {
+		ke.ExtKey = extkey
+	} else if predef, ok := predefkeys[keyval]; ok {
+		ke.ASCII = predef
+	} else if _, ok := modonlykeys[keyval]; !ok {		// use ok form here to save memory/avoid racy map write
+		cp := C.gdk_keyval_to_unicode(keyval)
+		// GDK keycodes in GDK 3.4 the ASCII plane map to their ASCII values
+		// (proof: https://git.gnome.org/browse/gtk+/tree/gdk/gdkkeysyms.h?h=gtk-3-4)
+		// this also handles the numeric keypad keys (proof: https://git.gnome.org/browse/gtk+/tree/gdk/gdkkeyuni.c?h=gtk-3-4#n846)
+		// the cp < 0x20 will also handle the case where the key is totally unknown to us (gdk_keyval_to_unicode() returns 0) and the space key
+		if cp < 0x20 || cp >= 0x7F {
+			// TODO really stop here? or should we handle modifiers?
+			return false		// pretend unhandled
+		}
+		ke.ASCII = byte(cp)
+	}
+	state := translateModifiers(e.state, e.window)
+	ke.Modifiers = makeModifiers(state)
+	ke.Up = up
+	return s.handler.Key(ke)
+}
+
 //export our_area_key_press_event_callback
 func our_area_key_press_event_callback(widget *C.GtkWidget, event *C.GdkEvent, data C.gpointer) C.gboolean {
-	e := (*C.GdkEventKey)(unsafe.Pointer(event))
+/*
 	fmt.Printf("PRESS %#v\n", e)
 	fmt.Printf("this (%d/GDK_KEY_%s):\n", e.keyval,
 		C.GoString((*C.char)(unsafe.Pointer(
@@ -169,28 +208,24 @@ func our_area_key_press_event_callback(widget *C.GtkWidget, event *C.GdkEvent, d
 	pk(C.GDK_KEY_A, e.window)
 	fmt.Printf("%d/GDK_KEY_a:\n", C.GDK_KEY_a)
 	pk(C.GDK_KEY_a, e.window)
-	return C.FALSE			// TODO really false?
+*/
+	ret := doKeyEvent(event, data, false)
+	_ = ret
+	return C.FALSE			// TODO really false? should probably return !ret (since true indicates stop processing)
 }
 
 var area_key_press_event_callback = C.GCallback(C.our_area_key_press_event_callback)
 
 //export our_area_key_release_event_callback
 func our_area_key_release_event_callback(widget *C.GtkWidget, event *C.GdkEvent, data C.gpointer) C.gboolean {
-	e := (*C.GdkEventKey)(unsafe.Pointer(event))
-	fmt.Printf("RELEASE %#v\n", e)
-	fmt.Printf("this (%d/GDK_KEY_%s):\n", e.keyval,
-		C.GoString((*C.char)(unsafe.Pointer(
-			C.gdk_keyval_name(e.keyval)))))
-	pk(e.keyval, e.window)
-	fmt.Printf("%d/GDK_KEY_A:\n", C.GDK_KEY_A)
-	pk(C.GDK_KEY_A, e.window)
-	fmt.Printf("%d/GDK_KEY_a:\n", C.GDK_KEY_a)
-	pk(C.GDK_KEY_a, e.window)
-	return C.FALSE			// TODO really false?
+	ret := doKeyEvent(event, data, true)
+	_ = ret
+	return C.FALSE			// TODO really false? should probably return !ret (since true indicates stop processing)
 }
 
 var area_key_release_event_callback = C.GCallback(C.our_area_key_release_event_callback)
 
+/*
 func pk(keyval C.guint, window *C.GdkWindow) {
 	var kk *C.GdkKeymapKey
 	var nk C.gint
@@ -210,3 +245,79 @@ func pk(keyval C.guint, window *C.GdkWindow) {
 	}
 	C.g_free(C.gpointer(unsafe.Pointer(ok)))
 }
+*/
+
+var extkeys = map[C.guint]ExtKey{
+	C.GDK_KEY_Escape:			Escape,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Insert:			Insert,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Delete:			Delete,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Home:			Home,
+	C.GDK_KEY_End:			End,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Page_Up:		PageUp,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Page_Down:		PageDown,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Up:			Up,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Down:			Down,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Left:			Left,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Right:			Right,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F1:			F1,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F2:			F2,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F3:			F3,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F4:			F4,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F5:			F5,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F6:			F6,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F7:			F7,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F8:			F8,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F9:			F9,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F10:			F10,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F11:			F11,
+	C.GDK_KEY_F12:			F12,
+	// numeric keypad equivalents:
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Insert:		Insert,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Delete:		Delete,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Home:		Home,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_End:		End,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Page_Up:		PageUp,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Page_Down:	PageDown,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Up:			Up,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Down:		Down,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Left:		Left,
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Right:		Right,
+}
+
+// sanity check
+func init() {
+	included := make([]bool, _nextkeys)
+	for _, v := range extkeys {
+		included[v] = true
+	}
+	for i := 1; i < int(_nextkeys); i++ {
+		if !included[i] {
+			panic(fmt.Errorf("error: not all ExtKeys defined on Unix (missing %d)", i))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+var predefkeys = map[C.guint]byte{
+	C.GDK_KEY_Return:			'\n',
+	// TODO C.GDK_KEY_Linefeed too? What key is this?
+	C.GDK_KEY_Tab:			'\t',
+	C.GDK_KEY_BackSpace:		'\b',
+	// tests indicate that this is sent on Shift+Tab
+	C.GDK_KEY_ISO_Left_Tab:	'\t',
+	// numeric keypad equivalents:
+	C.GDK_KEY_KP_Enter:		'\n',
+	// all other numeric keypad equivalents are handled by gdk_keymap_to_unicode() as mentioned above
+	// no space; handled by the code above
+}
+
+var modonlykeys =  map[C.guint]bool{
+	C.GDK_KEY_Shift_L:		true,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Shift_R:		true,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Control_L:	true,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Control_R:	true,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Meta_L:		true,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Meta_R:	true,
+	// TODO GDK_KEY_Alt_L/R too?
+	C.GDK_KEY_Super_L:	true,
+	C.GDK_KEY_Super_R:	true,
+}
diff --git a/test/main.go b/test/main.go
index d4a94e3..b2d6a6d 100644
--- a/test/main.go
+++ b/test/main.go
@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@ func (a *areaHandler) Paint(rect image.Rectangle) *image.NRGBA {
 func (a *areaHandler) Mouse(e MouseEvent) {
 //	fmt.Printf("%#v\n", e)
 }
+func (a *areaHandler) Key(e KeyEvent) bool {
+	fmt.Printf("%#v\n", e)
+	return false
+}
 
 var doArea = flag.Bool("area", false, "run area test instead")
 func areaTest() {