Patrick Chamoiseau was born in 1953 in Fort de France, Martinique, where he now lives. He studied law in Paris. Chamoiseau is the author of a historical work on the Antilles under Bonaparte and two non-fiction works: In Praise of Creoleness and To Write in a Dominated Country. His novels are Chronique des sept miseres, Solibo le magnifique and, most recently, Texaco. He has also published a volume of Caribbean folk tales and a memoir of his childhood. In 1992 Chamoiseau was awarded the Prix Goncourt for Texaco.