Guest of the ilb 2007
Michael Ondaatje was born in
Ceylon (today Sri Lanka) in 1943. After spending ten years in England,
where he began his studies, the eighteen-year-old migrated to Canada
and has been a Canadian citizen since 1962. He studied at Bishop’s
University, the University of Toronto and Queen’s University, and since
1971 has taught creative writing and contemporary literature at Glendon
College, York University.
Ondaatje debuted with the
volume of poetry »The Dainty Monsters« (1967), followed by numerous
others, before he received worldwide acclaim for his novels. »The
Collected Works of Billy the Kid« (1970), a collage of various text
genres, was adapted for the stage. Ondaatje’s first novel, »Coming
through Slaughter« (1976), was also dramatised and found an
enthusiastic audience in Germany. »Running in the Family« (1982), a
compilation of sketches, poems, stories and photographs, offers a
colourful as well as fascinating portrait of Ondaatje’s parents’ house
in colonial Ceylon.
In the impressionistic novel
»In the Skin of the Lion« (1987), set in the 1920s Toronto, the
boundaries between reality, invention and legend are blurred. Ondaatje
was the first Canadian ever to receive the Booker Prize, for »The
English Patient« (1992). The film version, directed by Anthony
Minghella, won nine Oscars in 1996. In 2000 »Anil’s Ghost« was
published. In this novel Ondaatje juxtaposes a poetic vision of the
beauty of Sri Lanka against the barbarities of the civil war.
Ondaatje’s most recent novel, »Divisadero« (2007), follows the fortunes
of three individuals who become outsiders living in completely
alternative worlds. The novel was published in German this year.
Ondaatje has also been
successful as both a director and a playwright. He made a film – »Sons
of Captain Poetry« (1970) – about the Canadian sound poet bp Nichol
(1944-1988), who, according to Ondaatje, significantly influenced
contemporary poetry. »The Clinton Special: A Film about the Farm Show«
(1974), meanwhile, chronicles a gathering in the countryside where a
few actors partner up to write a realistic play. In 2002 Ondaatje’s
book on the sound editor Walter Murch was published, »The
Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film«.
Among his distinctions are the
Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, which Ondaatje has won
three times, the Trillium Award, the Nelly Sachs Prize and the Prix
Médicis. In 1988 he was named Officer of the Order of Canada, and two
years later an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and
Letters. Ondaatje has also gained prominence as the author of various
essays and as editor of several anthologies. He is co-editor of the
journal »Brick« and lives in Toronto.
© international literature festival berlin
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