Michael Ondaatje

Michael Ondaatje was born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), in 1943. He was educated in Colombo, London, and Quebec before receiving his BA from the University of Toronto in 1965. Ondaatje taught at the University of Western Ontario from 1967 through 1971, and since 1971 has been a member of the English Department at Glendon College, a part of York University in Toronto.

A prolific author not only of fiction but of poetry and nonfiction, Ondaatje has been awarded many prizes, including Canada's Governor General's Award in 1971 and 1980, and the Canada-Australia Prize in 1980. The English Patient won the Booker Prize, England's highest honor for fiction.


Back to The English Patient