Michael Ondaatje

MICHAEL ONDAATJE was born in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) and came to Canada via England in 1962. In 1978, on sabbatical leave from his teaching position at Glendon College, Toronto, he returned to Sri Lanka, where his sister Gillian still lives, and wrote most of Running in the Family while he was in Wattale and Colombo. He is a  fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of multiple literary awards such as the Governor General's Award, the Giller Prize, the Booker Prize, and the Prix Médicis étranger. Ondaatje is also an Officer of the Order of Canada, recognizing him as one of Canada's most renowned living authors.