Alai is an ethnic Tibetan living in Chengdu, Sichuan, the award-winning author of a number of short story collections, and the editor of China's largest science fiction journal, Science Fiction World. His first novel was rejected by numerous publishers over a number of years for its sensitive political content. The novel finally made its way to China's prestigious People's Literature Publishing House, where an editor fell in love with it and championed its publication. In Howard Goldblatt's opinion, only an established, politically connected editor could risk the displeasure of the censors. The novel was published in 1998 to critical acclaim and became an immediate bestseller, and in 2000 it was given China's highest literary award, the Mao Dun Prize. Red Poppies is the first novel in a projected trilogy.

Photo of Alai by Fritz Hoffmann