Diao Dou Author

Diao Dou was born in 1960 in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China. Since graduating from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1983, he has worked as a journalist and latterly as a literary editor. Although his first book was a collection of poetry, Aiqing jishi (‘Chronicles of Love’, 1992), he is best known as an author of novels and short stories. His five novels are Siren dang’an (‘Personal File’, 1998), Zhengci (‘Testimony’, 1999), Youxifa (‘Playing the Game’, 2002), Wo ge Diao Bei nianbiao (‘My Brother, Diao Bei: A History’, 2008) and Qinhe (‘Close to You’, 2011). He has also published five collections of short stories: Duzi shangsheng (‘Ascending Alone’, 1996), Shaizi yi zhi (‘A Roll of the Dice’, 1996), Shijishang shi hujiu (‘A Cry for Help’, 2006), Qingshu kao (‘Love Letters: A Study’, 2014) and Chuchu (‘Points of Origin’, forthcoming). He has also published one collection of essays, Yi ge xiaoshuojia de shenghuo yu xiangxiang (‘The Life and Imagination of a Novelist’, 2012). Diao Dou is wildly regarded as one of China’s leading satirists, praised for his refusal to follow any of the numerous literary trends that often dominate the Chinese literary scene. In 2003, he was awarded the ninth annual Zhuang Zhongwen Prize for Literature. Points of Origin is the first appearance of his collected works in English.