Liu Cixin

Liu Cixin (simplified Chinese: 刘慈欣; traditional Chinese: 劉慈欣; pinyin: Liú Cíxīn; born 23 June 1963) is a Chinese science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of the Galaxy Award (China's most prestigious literary science fiction award), winner of the 2015 Hugo Award (for The Three-Body Problem) and the 2017 Locus Award (for Death's End) as well as a nominee for the Nebula Award. In English translations of his works, his name is given in the form Cixin Liu.

Liu Cixin was born on 23 June 1963 in Yangquan, Shanxi. Liu's parents worked in a mine in Shanxi. Due to the violence of the Cultural Revolution he was sent to live in his ancestral home in Luoshan County, Henan.

Liu graduated from the North China University of Water Conservancy and Electric Power in 1988. He then worked as a computer engineer at a power plant in the Shanxi province.

Liu cites British authors George Orwell and Arthur C. Clarke as important literary influences. He was labeled the first cyberpunk Chinese author after his novel, China 2185, was published in 1989.

Liu's most famous work, The Three-Body Problem, was published in 2007 (it is the first novel in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy). American author Ken Liu's 2014 translation (published by Tor Books) won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Liu Cixin thus became the first author from Asia to win Best Novel. The German translation (which included some portions of the original text not included in the English translation) followed in 2016. Ken Liu also translated the third volume of the Remembrance of Earth's Past series, Death's End, in 2016. Death's End was a 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel finalist and won a 2017 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

A cinematic adaptation of The Three-Body Problem has been filmed, but its release has been indefinitely postponed. In March 2018, Amazon was rumored to be negotiating for the rights to the project. However, YooZoo Pictures released a statement in response stating that it was the "sole owner of the rights for film and TV series adaptations." Although it "was originally scheduled to be released in 2017," the project "was postponed indefinitely due to the company's internal shuffling and the rumored 'bad quality' of the film's first cut." In June 2019, it was reported that work had begun on an animated adaptation.

The cinematic adaptation of his short story The Wandering Earth was released in China on February 5, 2019, which became the second highest-grossing film in the Chinese box office within 2 weeks.

Liu is married and has a daughter. His wife and daughter almost never read his works.

Liu's political views are closely aligned with those of the Chinese government. In his 2019 interview with The New Yorker, Liu said he has become wary of touting the geopolitical underpinnings of his work