
Lawrence A. Walker is a translator and a former US diplomat, serving from 1980-1991 and again from 2004-2013 in Mexico City, Germany (Bonn and Berlin), Taipei, Shenyang, Nigeria (Abuja), and at the U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart. He also worked at the State Department’s Office of Korean Affairs. In the interim from 1991 to 2004, he was the managing director of the German-American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, German, French, and Spanish, he holds degrees from Georgetown University, the University of Illinois, and the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.
Walker has translated and published several works by Geling Yan, including White Snake and Other Stories and The Landlady. He is currently focused on translating her novel 舞男 and managing her business affairs. Walker has also edited Yan's English-language work, notably The Banquet Bug (aka The Uninvited). Now residing in Berlin, he continues to make significant contributions to the literary world through his expertise in linguistics and his dedication to bringing Yan's work to a broader audience.