Bali Rai thinks he is a very lucky man. He gets to write all day if he wants to, or to go into schools to speak to his readers about what they think of his books. He loves films, music, reading, seeing friends and watching his beloved Liverpool FC.
Bali played for his school team as a defender and loved it. He has been a lifelong football fan since he began watching Match of the Day at the age of four with his dad. He enjoys talking and arguing about Liverpool FC and would like to be Rafa Benitez’s or Steven Gerrard’s personal servant, but if this does not happen he is happy to carry on writing for his thousands of fans.
Bali was very honoured that his short novel Dream On (about a young footballer) was chosen for the first Booked-Up list and was made available to every Year 7 school child.
Bali’s books are now in ten languages and he also gets to travel all over the world to meet his readers. He hopes that he can encourage anyone to have a go at writing and to find a love of reading. He has won lots of book awards and really enjoys winning the ones that are voted for by the real readers – you!
Bali lives in his home city of Leicester. He has a lovely new wife and a football-crazy daughter.