Nancy Yi Fan spent the first part of her childhood in China, where she was born in 1993. When she was seven years old, Nancy moved with her parents to the United States and attended American schools. Birds, a life long passion of the author's, provided the inspiration for Swordbird. After awaking from a vivid dream about birds at war, Nancy wrote Swordbird as a way to convey her message of peace to the world.
Nancy Yi Fan is a member of SCBWI (society of children's book writers & illustrators) and an honorary member of the Audubon Society of Florida. She currently lives in Florida with her parents.
The Author's Words:
I feel very fortunate that Mother Nature bestowed me a gift, the inspiration for Swordbird when I was a child of ten years romping in the deep forests on the hills of Hamilton, New York. It came in a dream, in which I met an amazing white bird wielding a sword. I began writing about it immediately after I woke up.
I loved birds; I loved writing and reading. Birds often appeared in my very early writings. I would dive into a book whenever possible. I used a little cart to lug books back to home. My parents usually borrowed classics and award-winning books for me to read in my spare time. I tried to base my standard of writing upon theirs. When I went back to China, I read the four classics Dream of the Red Chambers, The Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Outlaws of the Marshland. The ideas, storyline and sub plots in Swordbird reflect a mix of the influence from Western and Chinese books I’ve read.
Nancy's Childhood
Nancy was practising martial arts at the beach
