Bali Rai


Bali Rai 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, arranged Marriage, during this period.

Writing career

Bali Rai showed parts of his debut novel, 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 .
In 2014, Rai received an honorary doctorate from De Montfort University in Leicester.

Awards

YearAward
2002Angus Book Award, for arranged Marriage
2002Leicester Children's Book Award, for arranged Marriage
2002Stockport Schools' Book Award, for arranged Marriage
2004Calderdale Book of the Year, for The Crew
2004Leicester Children's Book Award, for The Crew
2004North Lanarkshire Book Award, for arranged Marriage
2005IBBY Sweden Silverstjärnor, for the Swedish translation of Rani and Sukh
2005Redbridge Teenage Book Award, for Rani and Sukh
2006Renfrewshire Teenage Book Award, for Rani and Sukh
2011North East Teenage Book Award, for Killing Honour
2014Honorary doctorate from De Montfort University, Leicester
2015Leeds Book Award, for Web of Darkness
2015Shropshire Teenage Book Award, for Web of Darkness
2015Southern Schools Book Award, for Web of Darkness

Works

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