Charles Foran was born in Toronto, Canada in 1960. He received degrees in English literature and history from the University of Toronto and a Master's degree in Irish Literature at University College, Dublin. His first book, Sketches in Winter, was published in 1992. He has written over ten fiction and nonfiction books including Kitchen Music, The Story of My Life (So Far), House on Fire, Carolan's Farewell, and Maurice Richard. He won the QSPELL for The Last House of Ulster in 1995 and for Butterfly Lovers in 1997. He also won the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction and the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction for Mordecai: The Life and Times. He is a contributing… reviewer for The Globe and Mail and co-wrote the TV documentary Mordecai Richler: The Last of the Wild Jews. He has taught in China, Hong Kong, and Canada.