Xiran Jay Zhao (Chinese: 赵希然; pinyin: Zhào Xīrán[3]) immigrated to British Columbia from a small town in China in grade five.
[9] In March 2020, Zhao signed a two-book deal with Penguin Teen Canada for a young adult (YA) mecha reimagining of the rise of the Chinese Empress Wu.
In September 2020, Zhao went viral, first on a Twitter thread followed by their first YouTube video, for their criticisms of Disney's live-action Mulan remake and its cultural inaccuracies.
[20][21] They credit their presence on the Internet as a self-described "Chinese history memer" for the success of Iron Widow, which was initially expected to only appeal to a niche audience.
[...] For all their differences of mood, the novels rescue what is valuable to Zhao in Chinese history and myth, and project it forward – creating artistic acts of cultural reappropriation".
[32][33] It later emerged that this was due to self-censorship by the Hugo Award administrators of the 81st World Science Fiction Convention – which was held in Chengdu, China – in order to appease the Chinese government, which has a strict censorship regime.