Michael Ondaatje

Michael Ondaatje

Ondaatje speaking at Tulane University, 2010
BornPhilip Michael Ondaatje
(1943-09-12) 12 September 1943
Colombo, Western Province, British Ceylon
(now Sri Lanka)
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
EducationDulwich College
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Queen's University
Bishop's University
Notable works
Notable awardsGovernor General's Award – Poetry
Booker Prize
Giller Prize
Prix Médicis étranger
Order of Canada
St. Louis Literary Award
SpouseLinda Spalding
RelativesChristopher Ondaatje (brother)

Philip Michael Ondaatje CC FRSL (/ɒnˈdɑː/; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist.

Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing The Dainty Monsters, and then in 1970 the critically acclaimed The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. His novel The English Patient (1992), adapted into a film in 1996 and won the 1992 Golden Man Booker Prize.

Ondaatje has been "fostering new Canadian writing" with two decades commitment to Coach House Press (ca. 1970–1990), and his editorial credits include the journal Brick, and the Long Poem Anthology (1979), among others.