Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese human rights activist, has an incredible story to share with the world. He's hoping that he'll be able to get a book deal so he can write about his experiences as a freedom fighter in his native People's Republic of China where he lived until last month. After being imprisoned by the Chinese government and enduring house arrest,Guangcheng escaped to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and eventually was allowed to leave China for the U.S. with his wife and two children. 

As a self-taught lawyer, for the past two decades, Guangcheng has been a thorn on the side of the Chinese government. In 2005, he organized a class-action lawsuit against the government for its excessive enforcement of the one-child policy.  For this action, he was put under house arrest for several months and then was sentenced to four years in prison. After his release in 2010, he and his family were placed under house arrest.  During the house arrest, a Chinese human rights organization issued a video that showed the conditions of the house arrest, which the group characterized with having undue and severe police surveillance. Soon after, Chen and his wife were beaten by police.  

Guangcheng, who lost his sight after a childhood fever, started his activism in 1994 when he petitioned to appeal the taxes that he and his family were being forced to pay despite a Chinese law that exempts disabled individuals from paying taxes. After successfully appealing the tax levy, he began to file petitions on behalf of other disabled people and also began to mobilze collective actions.

Though educated in acupuncture and massage, Guangcheng was always interested in law so he taught himself law by reading legal texts that were in braile and asking family members to read what he couldn't.

The book he hopes to write will be about his life and his quest for freedom and human rights in China. It will be translated from Mandrain. Guangcheng is currently living in New York City and is a visiting scholar at New York University School of Law.