Yann Martel

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**Yann Martel**
Born:	June 25, 1963 (age 43)
Occupation(s):	Novelist
Nationality:	Canadian
Writing period:	1993-present
Debut work(s):	The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios

Yann Martel (born June 25, 1963) is a Canadian author.

As an adult, he has traveled the globe, spending time in Iran, Turkey and India. After studying philosophy at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, at age 27 he embarked on a writing career. Living in or visiting many cultures influenced his writing, providing the rich cultural background mix in Life of Pi that garnered him the prestigious 2002 Booker Prize for fiction. To write Life of Pi, Martel spent six months in India visiting mosques, temples, churches and zoos, and then an entire year reading religious texts and castoff stories. After the research, the actual writing required two more years.

Life of Pi was chosen for the 2003 edition of CBC Radio's Canada Reads competition, where it was championed by author Nancy Lee. In addition, its French translation, Histoire de Pi, was included in the French version of the competition, Le combat des livres, in 2004, championed by singer Louise Forestier.

Martel spent a year in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan from September 2003 as the public library's writer-in-residence. He moved to Montreal, Quebec and has recently collaborated with Canadian composer Omar Daniel, composer-in-residence at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, on a piece for piano, string quartet and bass. The composition, You Are Where You Are, is based on text written by Martel, which includes parts of cellphone conversations taken from moments in an ordinary day.

In November 2005, the University of Saskatchewan announced that Martel will return and spend a year in the university's English department as a scholar-in-residence. He plans to research his next book, a historical novel about the Holocaust, in Saskatoon where he is currently living with his girlfriend.

[edit] Books

Seven Stories (1993)
The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (1993)
Self (1996)
Life of Pi (2001)
We Ate the Children Last (2004)

[edit] Literary awards

Winner of the 2002 Booker Prize for Fiction
Winner of the 2001 Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction
Shortlisted for the 2001 Governor General's Award for Fiction
Shortlisted for Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award
His short story "The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios" was the winner of the 1991 Journey Prize