Nam Le was born in Vietnam and grew up in Melbourne. He spent several years studying in the United States and is currently living in the Unitd Kingdom. Nam appeared to leap onto the literary scene fully formed, with his extraordinarily impressive collection of stories, The Boat, which was published in Australia (by Penguin Books), and around the world, in the middle of last year. In November, he won the Dylan Thomas Prize. As a writer, he’s deeply committed to challenging himself: to never taking the easy way out.