Ken Liu

Writer

Ken Liu is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he wrote the Dandelion Dynasty, a silkpunk epic fantasy series (starting with The Grace of Kings), as well as short story collections The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. He also penned the Star Wars novel The Legends of Luke Skywalker.

Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. Liu frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.

A person standing outdoors, wearing a black knit hat, green scarf, and a beige jacket with hands in the pockets. Trees and a cloudy sky are in the background.

An open book with a red page showing a black, abstract, circular design on the left and a black-and-white illustration of a person practicing Daoism while riding an ox next to a tree on the right.

Thinking

Why the ancient power of the Dao De Jing is more important than ever

“In that conversation with Laozi’s text, I began to see the shape of my own life, the questions that opened seams, the patterns that pooled and shimmered.”