Tan Twan Eng is a highly accomplished novelist from Malaysia who has gained international recognition for his work. Born in Penang, he lived in various parts of Malaysia as a child before studying law in London. Tan then worked as a lawyer in a reputable firm in Kuala Lumpur, and later became an International Writer-in-Residence at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore in 2016.
Tan's first novel, "The Gift of Rain," was published in 2007 and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The novel has been translated into several languages, including Italian, Spanish, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, and Serbian. Tan's second novel, "The Garden of Evening Mists," was published in 2011 and has been widely acclaimed. It won the Man Asian Literary Prize and the Walter Scott Prize, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The novel has been translated into over a dozen languages, and was adapted into an award-winning film in 2019.
Tan's writing is known for its elegance, poise, and linguistic refinement. His work often explores themes of art, war, and memory, and is characterized by a climate of doubt and a mood of tension and possibility. Tan's latest novel, "The House of Doors," was published in May 2023 and has already been longlisted for the Booker Prize. The author continues to be a prominent figure in the literary world, and his work is celebrated for its beauty, sophistication, and depth.