Gerald Murnane was born in Melbourne in 1939. He has been a primary teacher, an editor and a university lecturer. His debut novel, Tamarisk Row (1974), was followed by eleven other works of fiction, including The Plains, A Million Windows and, most recently, Border Districts [shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award]. In 1999 Murnane won the Patrick White Award and in 2009 he won the Melbourne Prize for Literature. He lives in western Victoria.