Before taking up writing full-time Ron Butlin was, at various times, a lyricist with a pop band, a barnacle scraper on Thames barges, a footman attending embassies and country houses, and a male model. His works include the novels The Sound of My Voice, Night Visits and most recently Belonging; two collections of stories, Vivaldi and the Number 3 and The Tilting Room, and six books of poetry. His fiction and poetry have been translated into over ten languages.Born in 1968 in Niodior, Senegal, Fatou Diome moved to Strasbourg in 1994. She has taught at Strasbourg University and currently presents a cultural programme on the televison station FR3. She is the author of a collection of short… stories called La Preference Nationale. The Belly of the Atlantic is her first novel.