Stephen Alter has published sixteen books of fiction and non-fiction. He was born in Mussoorie, India, where he currently lives and writes. For ten years he taught creative writing at MIT and, before that, he was director of the writing program at the American University in Cairo. He has received numerous honours for his writing, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the East-West Centre in Hawaii, the Banff Centre for Mountain Culture and the Fulbright Program.