Born 17 May, 1961 in Nanjing, Han Dong's parents were banished to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, taking him with them. When the Cultural Revolution ended, he studied philosophy at Shandong University, graduating in 1982. He subsequently lectured in Xi'an and Nanjing, finally relinquishing teaching in 1993 to make his living as a writer. Han is a major player on the modern Chinese literary scene – he is an important avant-garde poet, and is increasingly well-known as an essayist, short story writer, blogger and novelist. He has made four literary tours in the West: Poetry International Festival Rotterdam, Holland, 2006; China-Europa Forum, Paris and Brussels, 2007; and London and Edinburgh, Arts Council England-funded solo tour, 2009, and Goettingen, Germany, 2011. His first novel, 《扎根》, was translated as Banished! (UHP, 2009) and long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize. [Read]