Author Bio
• Birth—September 12, 1943
• Where—Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Education—B.A. University of Toronto; M.A., Queens University (Canada)
• Awards—Man Booker Prize (more below)
• Currently—lives in Toronto, Canada
Philip Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, novelist, editor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of multiple literary awards, including the Booker Prize. Ondaatje is also an Officer of the Order of Canada, recognizing him as one of Canada's most renowned living authors. He is perhaps best known for his internationally successful novel The English Patient (1992).
Early life and education
Ondaatje was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), and is of Dutch, Sinhalese, and Tamil ancestry. His parents separated when he was an infant, and he lived with relatives until 1954 when he joined his mother in England.
After completing his secondary education at Dulwich College, Ondaatje emigrated to Montreal, Canada, in 1962. There he studied at Bishop's University, switching to the University of Toronto in his final year where he received a BA degree in 1965. Two years later, he received an MA from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.
After his formal schooling, Ondaatje began teaching English at the University of Western Ontario. In 1971, reluctant to get his Ph.D, he left his position at Western Ontario and went on to teach English literature at Glendon College, York University.
Writing
Ondaatje's work includes fiction, autobiography, poetry and film. His literary career began with poetry in 1967 and since then has published 13 books of poetry, two of which won Canada's Governor General's Award—The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (1970) and There's a Trick With a Knife I'm Learning to Do: Poems 1973–1978 (1979).
The author's first novel, Coming Through the Slaughter, debuted in 1976 and was followed over the years by seven others, including a partially fictionalized memoir (Running in the Family). Three of his works (Billy the Kid collection, Coming Through the Slaughter, and Divisadero) were adapted to the stage, and The English Patient became an internationally acclaimed film in 1996, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as for other categories.
In addition to his literary writing, Ondaatje has been an important force in helping to foster Canadian writing with two decades commitment to Coach House Press (around 1970-90), and his editorial credits on Canadian literary projects like the journal Brick, and the Long Poem Anthology (1979), among others. He has also served on the board of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry since 2000.
Public stand
In April 2015, Ondaatje was one of several members of PEN American Center who withdrew as literary host when the organization gave its annual Freedom of Expression Courage award to Charlie Hebdo. The award came in the wake of the shooting attack on the magazine's Paris offices in January, 2015. Ondaatje and several other hosts felt that while the attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo was reprehensible, the magazine's history of deliberately anti-Islam provocation was not worthy of being honored.
Honors
♦ Divisadero (2007) - Governor General's Award.
♦ Anil's Ghost (2000) - Giller Prize, Prix Medicis, Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, Irish Times International Fiction Prize, Governor General's Award.
♦ The English Patient (1992) - Booker Prize, Canada Australia Prize, Governor General's Award.
♦ In the Skin of a Lion (1987) - City of Toronto Book Award, the first "Canada Reads" competition, and Ritz Paris Hemingway Award (a finalist)
♦ Coming Through Slaughter (1976) - Books in Canada-First Novel Award
In 1988, Ondaatje was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC). In 2000 he became a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Sri Lanka honored Ondaatje in 2005 with its highest award for a foreign national. In 2016 a new species of spider, Brignolia ondaatjei, discovered in Sri Lanka, was named after him.
Personal
Ondaatje has two children with his first wife, Canadian artist Kim Ondaatje. His brother Christopher Ondaatje is a philanthropist, businessman and author. Ondaatje's nephew David Ondaatje is a film director and screenwriter, who made the 2009 film The Lodger. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 4/17/2018.)