Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in 1960, Yu Hua is one of the foremost writers of contemporary Chinese literature. After publishing the short story “First Dormitory” in 1983, Yu Hua began his career with a series of experimental short stories and novellas that would come to epitomize 3rd generation Chinese literature. His 1993 novel To Live, adapted to the screen and directed by Zhang Yimou, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His next novel, Chronicle of a Blood Merchant, was the best-selling book of Chinese fiction for over a decade. Backgrounded in modern Chinese society, his following two novels Brothers and The Seventh Day sparked fierce debates in China. Published in 2021 and his only novel to come out in the last 8 years, Wen Cheng (The Lost City), his first Chuanqi, a form of fiction in Classical Chinese first formed in the Tang dynasty, has been recorded as a major event in the Chinese literary world. Along with Mo Yan and Yan Lianke, he is considered to be one of China’s top three contemporary writers. His work has been translated into more than 45 languages.
