Bali Rai Explained

Bali Rai
Birth Date:30 November 1971
Birth Place:Leicester, Leicestershire, England
Occupation:Novelist
Language:English
Genre:Young adult fiction
Notableworks:(Un)arranged Marriage, Rani and Sukh, Killing Honour

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.[1] 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.[2] 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 South Bank University, graduating with a 2:1 in politics.[3] 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.[4] [5] He has also been an ambassador for The Reading Agency's Reading Ahead programme, and was BookTrust's sixth online writer-in-residence.[6] In 2019 he became an Ambassador for audiobook charity Listening Books.

In 2014, Rai received an honorary doctorate from De Montfort University in Leicester.[7]

Awards

Year Award
2002 Angus Book Award, for (Un)arranged Marriage[8]
2002 Leicester Children's Book Award, for (Un)arranged Marriage[9]
2002 Stockport Schools' Book Award, for (Un)arranged Marriage[10]
2004 Calderdale Book of the Year, for The Crew
2004 Leicester Children's Book Award, for The Crew
2004 North Lanarkshire Book Award, for (Un)arranged Marriage
2005 IBBY Sweden Silverstjärnor (Silver Star), for the Swedish translation of Rani and Sukh[11]
2005 Redbridge Teenage Book Award, for Rani and Sukh[12]
2006 Renfrewshire Teenage Book Award, for Rani and Sukh[13]
2011 North East Teenage Book Award, for Killing Honour[14]
2014 Honorary doctorate from De Montfort University, Leicester
2015 Leeds Book Award, for Web of Darkness[15]
2015 Shropshire Teenage Book Award, for Web of Darkness[16]
2015 Southern Schools Book Award, for Web of Darkness[17]

Works

Soccer Squad series

Tales from Devana High series

Barrington Stoke

Non-fiction

Contributor

Bali Rai has contributed short stories to a number of anthologies, including:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sohni Mehiwal: Bali Rai. Tamarind Books Blog. Tamarind Books. 15 January 2018. tamarind1.
  2. Web site: Bali Rai Biography. Bali Rai Official Website. 15 January 2018. official1. 15 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160915142850/http://www.balirai.co.uk/biography. dead.
  3. Web site: Bali Rai. BookTrust. BookTrust. 15 January 2018. bkt.
  4. Web site: Four Thought, Series 2, Bali Rai: Stop Talking About Race. BBC Radio 4. British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 January 2018. bbc1.
  5. Web site: Sonia Deol, Author Bali Rai. BBC Asian Network. British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 January 2018. bbc2.
  6. Web site: Writer in Residence Bali Rai. BookTrust. BookTrust. 15 January 2018. bkt2.
  7. Web site: Summer Graduations - Saturday PM. Facebook. De Montfort University. 16 January 2018. dmu.
  8. Web site: Archived: Angus Book Award Winners. https://web.archive.org/web/20140117170100/http://www.booksfromscotland.com/Books/Award-Winning-Scottish-Books/Angus-Book-Award. dead. 17 January 2014. Books from Scotland. Wayback Machine. 16 January 2018. angus.
  9. Web site: Book of the Year 2006 – award ceremony. Leicester City Council. Leicester City Council. 16 January 2018. lboty. 17 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180117011828/https://www.leicester.gov.uk/news/news-story-details/?nId=2774. dead.
  10. Web site: Archived: Winners From Previous Years. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928202900/http://www.stockport.gov.uk/services/leisureculture/libraries/otherlibraryservices/stockportschoollibraryservice/sba/pastwinners/. dead. 28 September 2011. Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. Wayback Machine. 16 January 2018. stock.
  11. Web site: Tidigare mottagare av Silverstjärnor. IBBY Sverige. International Board on Books for Young People. 16 January 2018. ibby.
  12. Web site: Redbridge Children's Book Awards. London Borough of Redbridge. London Borough of Redbridge. 16 January 2018. redb.
  13. Web site: Archived: Prizes & Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20130430004916/http://www.randomhousesites.co.uk/childrens/grownups/prizes/prizes.htm. dead. 30 April 2013. Kids at Random House. Wayback Machine. 16 January 2018. random.
  14. Web site: And the winner is.... North East Teenage Book Award. North East Teenage Book Award. 16 January 2018. netba.
  15. Web site: Winners - Leeds Book Awards. Leeds Book Awards. Leeds Libraries. 16 January 2018. leeds.
  16. Web site: Teenage Book Award 2015 to be launched on 23 September. Shropshire Newsroom. Shropshire Council. 16 January 2018. shrop.
  17. Web site: Southern Schools Book Award 2015 Presentation Evening. Southern Schools Book Award. Southern Schools Book Award. 16 January 2018. ssba. 16 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180116193239/http://southernschoolsbookaward.co.uk/2015-2/. dead.

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