Eleanor Catton is a highly acclaimed Canadian-born New Zealand author, best known for her mystery and thriller novels. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the prestigious Man Booker Prize and the Governor General's Award for Fiction. Catton was born in Canada in 1985, while her father was completing a doctorate at the University of Western Ontario. When she was thirteen, her family moved to Canterbury, New Zealand, where she spent the majority of her childhood and young adult life.
Catton received her education in New Zealand, studying English at the University of Canterbury and completing a Master's in Creative Writing at the Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University of Wellington. She began her writing career as a student, penning her first novel, The Rehearsal, as her master's thesis. In 2008, Catton attended the Iowa Writers Workshop, where she was the recipient of the Glenn Schaeffer Fellowship, a program aimed at fostering the development of emerging writers. The workshop's innovative style of exchanging ideas with other writers at a similar stage of development has proven effective, as many of its alumni, including Catton, have gone on to win prestigious literary awards.
Catton's writing has been widely recognized for its literary merit. Her novel, The Luminaries, won the 2013 Man Booker Prize and the Governor General's Award for Fiction, cementing her place as one of New Zealand's most accomplished authors. She has also adapted The Luminaries for television and wrote the screenplay for Emma, a film based on the Jane Austen novel. Catton currently resides in Cambridge, England, where she continues to write and teach creative writing at the Manukau Institute of Technology.
In conclusion, Eleanor Catton is a highly accomplished Canadian-born New Zealand author, known for her award-winning mystery and thriller novels. She was born in Canada and spent her childhood in New Zealand, where she received her education and began her writing career. Catton's work has been widely recognized for its literary merit, and she has won numerous awards, including the Man Booker Prize and the Governor General's Award for Fiction. She continues to write and teach creative writing in England.