Tom Lin was born in Beijing and lives in Iowa City with his partner, Pia, their cat, and their dog. His first novel, THE THOUSAND CRIMES OF MING TSU, won the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction; he is its youngest winner. He studies how popular culture participates in the shaping of technologies, with particular interest in the relation between science fiction and nuclear weapons. He teaches English and creative writing at the University of Iowa.