Arto Paasilinna was born on April 20, 1942 in the Alakyl� part of the municipality of Kittil�, in Lapland, Finland. Arto Paasilinna studied at the General and Elementary School Line at the Lapland Folk Academy. He initially worked as a journalist at Nuoren Voiman Liitto, Nuori Voima-lehti and various newspapers as writer and editor. At the weekly magazine Apu, he was an editor from 1968 - 1970 and later a columnist from 1975 - 1988. In 1975 he wrote The Year of the Hare in response to his feeling that journalism was becoming superficial and meaningless. The book was an immediate success and from 1975 on Paasilinna became an independent writer. He still writes journalism articles and has… been a columnist on Finnish radio. In 2002, for Paasilinna's 60th anniversary, journalist Eino Leino published a biography of Paasilinna called Lentoj�tk�. Arto Paasilinnan el�m�" ("The Flight Dude"). The same year Paasilinna published his own autobiography called Yhdeks�n unelmaa ("Nine Night's Dream"). As of 2009, Paasilinna has published about 12 non-fiction books and 35 novels, with almost one novel each year from 1972 to 2009. Paasilinna's books reflect quite common Finnish life, usually from a middle-aged male perspective, and in rural Finland. His title Year of the Hare made the New York Times Best Seller list for 2011.
Born in Calcutta, and spent his childhood in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Northern India. He studied in Delhi, Oxford, and Egypt and taught at various Indian and American universities. Author of a travel book and three acclaimed novels. Ghosh has also written for GRANTA, THE NEW YORKER, THE NEW YORK TIMES, and THE OBSERVER. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.Pico Iyer was born in Oxford, England to Indian parents, who immigrated to California in 1957. He received a B.A. and M.A. from Oxford University and a second masters degree from Harvard University. From 1982 to 1985, he was a writer for Time magazine. Following a leave of absence to visit Asia, Iyer wrote Video… Nights in Katmandu: And Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East. In 1986 he returned to Time as a contributor. He also contributes regularly to Conde Nast Traveler magazine. Pico Iyer has written several other travel books including The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto; Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places in the World; and Tropical Classical: Essays from Several Directions.