Yann Martel is a Canadian writer who was born in Spain on June 25, 1963. As a child, he travelled extensively because his father was a diplomat. Before becoming a writer, Martel did many odd jobs including working as a librarian, a tree planter, a security guard, and as a parking lot attendant.
He has been writing professionally since the age of 27 and currently lives in Montreal. His main writings are fiction and short story writing with his first two books being The Facts of Helsinki Roccamatios and Self. Life of Pi is his third book and the one that finally won him critical acclaim.
The premise of Life of Pi was inspired by Moacyr Scliar’s Max and the Cats, which created some controversy and law suits against Martel though nothing ever came from them. Life of Pi was written by Martel after travelling to India where he conducted research on Indian culture and went back to Canada to discover more about Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.
Furthermore, he also had to delve deeply into animal psychology and castaway stories. He won the Man Booker Prize for Life of Pi, the book has sold over a million copies, and it has been made into a Hollywood blockbuster film.
