Linda Jaivin: On Drunken Poets, The Shortest History of China is her twelfth book.

From the woman who launched China’s textile industry to the emperor who’d rather slice his gown than wake his lover – inspiring a euphemism for queer love still used today – China has always been a place full of larger-than-life characters who have refused to conform to the norms of the day, including those of gender, social convention and political orthodoxy. Renowned author Linda Jaivin puts forth that the ‘China Story’ told by the Chinese Communist Party today tends to push the non-conformists from the margins to off the edge of the page altogether and that the Communist Party’s claims to speak for all Chinese people is contributing to rising anti-Chinese sentiment.

Finally, At a time when censorship increasingly silences China’s most vibrant free thinkers at home and abroad, Linda believes that it’s more important than ever to recognise that China is and always has been a place of vibrant, diverse and often inspirational humanity.