Michael Ondaatje is a Canadian poet, novelist, editor and filmmaker. Born in Sri Lanka in 1943, Ondaatje immigrated to Canada where he attended the University of Toronto and Queen’s University before teaching at York University. After gaining some initial success as a poet with Governor General’s Award-winning collections like, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, and There’s a Trick with a Knife I’m Learning to Do: Poems, Ondaatje eventually turned to writing novels, including In the Skin of a Lion and the wildly successful The English Patient. In addition to his poetry and fiction, Ondaatje has a distinguished career as a literary critic and as an editor. Ondaatje was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2005.