John Fadely lived in Asia for 30 years, practicing law in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore for 25 of those years. His debut poetry collection, Before Leaving the Island, won the 2025 Trail to Table Book Award in Poetry and was published in April 2026 by Wandering Aengus Press. He is the founder of Fifth Stanza Press and is currently co-translating an illustrated edition of Tang and Song dynasty poetry. He lives in Portola Valley, California.