Born in 1942, Janette Turner Hospital grew up on the steamy sub-tropical coast of Australia in the north-eastern state of Queensland. She began her teaching career in remote Queensland high schools, but since her graduate studies she has taught in universities in Australia, Canada, England, France and the United States. She has been a Visiting Professor and Distinguished Writer in Residence at M.I.T., Boston University, Colgate University, and Columbia University in New York. She currently mentors students and teaches one course each year as Carolina Distinguished Professor Emerita at South Carolina University. She has won a numerous prizes for her nine novels and five short story collections and her work has been published in multiple foreign language collections.