Patrick Rothfuss was born in Madison, Wisconsin on June 6, 1973. He received a B.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point and M. A. from Washington State University. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. In 2002, his short story, The Road to Levinshir, won first place in the Writers of the Future contest. He writes The Kingkiller Chronicles. The first book in the series, The Name of the Wind, won the 2007 Quill Award for best sci-fi/fantasy. The third book in the series, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2014.