Laurence Yep was born and raised in San Francisco where he attended school in Chinatown. He has a Ph.D. from the SUNY at Buffalo and has taught at UC, Berkeley as well as serving as Writer-in-Residence at UC, Santa Barbara and Visiting Artist at the Kennedy Center. He was awarded an NEA fellowship for his fiction as well as many other awards, most notably the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his “substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.”

He sold his first story when he was eighteen and since then has published almost sixty books for children and adults, including a Star Trek novel. His books for young readers include the novel Dragonwings, based on the exploits of the real Chinese American aviator, Fung Joe Guey, who built and flew his own airplane in 1909. The story garnered many awards—among them a Newbery Honor. He later adapted it for the stage at a workshop at the Sundance Institute and the subsequent production was performed at the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. He received a second Newbery Honor for his novel, Dragon’s Gate, after twenty years of research, which included a trip to Utah.

His writing encompasses a wide range of genres, including mystery, science fiction and fantasy. Dragonwings and Dragon’s Gate are both part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles, which covers seven generations of a Chinese American family from 1849 to 1995.

Laurence currently lives in Pacific Grove with his wife, writer Joanne Ryder, several blocks away from sea otters and the monarch butterfly trees.

For more information, please visit www.harpercollinschildrens.com/HarperChildrens/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=12929.

Laurence Yep will appear on Saturday, Oct. 28, 11 am, in the Salt Lake City Main Library, Auditorium.