John Boyne was born in Dublin in 1971 and is currently events manager at Waterstone?s Dublin. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and the University of East Anglia, where he completed the course in creative writing. At UEA he was awarded the Curtis Brown prize (shared with Toby Litt). His first short story was published in The Sunday Tribune and was subsequently shortlisted for a Hennessy Literary Award. The Thief of Time is his first novel.