Bali Rai
Bali Rai (born 30 November 1971) is an English author of children's and young adult fiction. Early life. Rai was born in Leicester in 1971, to Punjabi parents. At the age of eleven, he read "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole" by Sue Townsend, which inspired him to take up writing. He has also cited Roald Dahl as an early influence on his writing. He attended Judgemeadow Community College, moving to Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College for sixth form. In 1991, Rai moved to London to study at Southbank University, graduating with a 2:1 in Politics . He stayed in London for two years after graduating, but was forced to return to Leicester due to personal circumstances. He had a number of jobs, including working for a supermarket, in telesales, and managing a bar. He began to write his first novel, "(Un)arranged Marriage", during this period. Writing career. Bali Rai showed parts of his debut novel, "(Un)arranged Marriage", to literary agent Jennifer Luithlen, who agreed to represent him. Once the novel had been edited, Rai signed a contract with Transworld. The novel was published in 2001 to critical acclaim. "Rani & Sukh", which Rai described as a "true  mash-up of Shakespeare, Bollywood and Punjabi folk tales", was published in 2004 and later became a GCSE set-text. He has also written several books for dyslexia-friendly publisher Barrington Stoke, such as "Dream On" and its sequel "Game On". His work has been published in various anthologies, including the 2017 book "Here I Stand", raising money and awareness for the human rights charity Amnesty International. Rai has made appearances on television and radio to discuss racism, his writing, and promoting reading for pleasure. He has also been an ambassador for The Reading Agency's Reading Ahead programme, and  was BookTrust's sixth online writer-in-residence. In 2019 he became an Ambassador for audiobook charity Listening Books. In 2014, Rai received an honorary doctorate from De Montfort University in Leicester. Works. Contributor. Bali Rai has contributed short stories to a number of anthologies, including: