Canadian
Xiran Jay Zhao is a Chinese-born Canadian author and online video creator. Zhao was born in Chongqing, China, and moved to Canada as a child. They became known on YouTube for long, comic videos about Chinese history and mythology, which draw on the same material as their fiction. Zhao's debut novel, Iron Widow, appeared in 2021. It retells the story of Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule China as emperor, in a future setting where girls pilot giant mechs and die doing it. The book became a bestseller and brought wide attention to young adult fiction rooted in Chinese history. Zhao continued the story in Heavenly Tyrant, which finished the Iron Widow duology. They use they/them pronouns. Zhao's work matters because it brings Chinese historical figures and myth to a young readership in English, in fast, angry, feminist adventure stories.