Michael Ondaatje

Who is this?

Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Ceylon-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry: in 1967 he published The Dainty Monsters, and in 1970 the critically acclaimed The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. His novel The English Patient (1992), adapted as a film in 1996, received the Booker Prize in 1992. It later won the Golden Man Booker Prize as the best of the first 51 Booker Prize winners. Ondaatje has been "fostering new Canadian writing" with two decades' commitment to Coach House Press (ca. 1970–1990). His editorial credits include the journal Brick, and the Long Poem Anthology (1979), among others.

Career

1. 1943
   Born
2. 1984
   Won Guggenheim Fellowship
3. 1992
   Won Booker Prize
4. 1995
   Won Nelly Sachs Prize
5. 2000
   Won Prix Médicis étranger
6. Member of Royal Society of Literature
7. Member of Royal Society of Canada
8. Won Companion of the Order of Canada
9. Notable work: The English Patient
10. Notable work: Divisadero
11. Notable work: Coming Through Slaughter

Trivia

• •Place of birth: Colombo
• •Citizenship: Canada
• •Known as: poet, novelist, pedagogue, writer
• •Spouse: Linda Spalding