Yiyun Li
Yiyun Li (李翊雲) was born on November 4, 1972 in Beijing, China. She initially trained in the sciences, earning a bachelor's degree at Peking University and a master's in immunology at the University of Iowa. However, her passion for writing led her to switch paths, obtaining a master's in creative writing at the same university.
Li writes exclusively in English and her works have been translated into more than 20 languages. Among her novels are The Vagrants and Where Reasons End, as well as her collection of stories A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, which was adapted into a film by Wayne Wang.
She has received numerous awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Windham-Campbell Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship. In 2022, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Currently, Li is a professor of creative writing at Princeton University. Her personal life has deeply influenced her work; after facing episodes of depression and the tragic loss of her two children to suicide in 2017 and 2024, respectively, she has explored these themes in her writings, such as in her novel Where Reasons End.
Li writes exclusively in English and her works have been translated into more than 20 languages. Among her novels are The Vagrants and Where Reasons End, as well as her collection of stories A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, which was adapted into a film by Wayne Wang.
She has received numerous awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Windham-Campbell Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship. In 2022, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Currently, Li is a professor of creative writing at Princeton University. Her personal life has deeply influenced her work; after facing episodes of depression and the tragic loss of her two children to suicide in 2017 and 2024, respectively, she has explored these themes in her writings, such as in her novel Where Reasons End.
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