M G Vassanji (www.mgvassanji.com) is the author of nine novels, three collections of short stories, a travel memoir about India, a memoir of East Africa, and a biography of Mordecai Richler. He is twice winner of the Giller Prize (1994, 2003) for best work of fiction in Canada (The Book of Secrets, The In-between World of Vikram Lall); the Governor General's Prize (2009) for best work of nonfiction (A Place Within: Rediscovering India); the Harbourfront Festival Prize; the Commonwealth First Book Prize (Africa, 1990, The Gunny Sack); and the Canada Council Molson Prize for his body of work. His futuristic, dystopic novel Nostalgia was a finalist for the CBC Canada Reads competition. The Assassin's Song was also shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Prize, the Writers Trust Award, and India's Crossword Prize. His work has been translated into Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, and Swahili. Vassanji has given lectures worldwide and written many essays, including introductions to the works of Robertson Davies, Anita Desai, and Mordecai Richler, and the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. (Photo: Mark Reynolds)
in 1981 Vassanji co-founded and became the editor of the the literary magazine the Toronto South Asian Review, which became the Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad, which lasted for 20 years, having brought out 60 issues. From this Review emerged Mawenzi House Publishers, a publisher of diverse literature, of which he is the editor. (www.mawenzihouse.com)
M G Vassanji was born in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in Tanzania. He received a BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, before going to live in Canada. He is a member of the Order of Canada. He lives in Toronto, and visits East Africa and India often.
