Fred D’Aguiar’s dozen books of fiction and poetry have been translated into a dozen languages. His first novel, The Longest Memory, won the Whitbread First Novel Award and was made into a film by Channel 4 (UK). His essays and poetry have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Guardian, Wasafiri, Callaloo, Best American Essays and elsewhere. His play, A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death, was produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London. His radio play, Days and Nights in Bedlam, was broadcast by the BBC, along with several recent short stories. Continental Shelf, a U.K. Poetry Book Society Choice, was shortlisted for the UK’s T.S. Eliot Prize in 2009.  His latest poetry collection is The Rose of Toulouse. His latest novel, Children of Paradise (HarperCollins, US; Granta, UK), is inspired by the events at Jonestown. Born in London in 1960 of Guyanese parents and brought up in Guyana and London, he teaches at Virginia Tech.