A Canadian novelist and screenwriter. He was born on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and later lived in California and Washington state. He lives in Portland, Oregon. His first book, Ablutions (2009), was named a New York Times Editors' Choice book. His second, The Sisters Brothers (2011), was shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the 2011 Governor General's Award for English language fiction. He was one of two Canadian writers, alongside Esi Edugyan, to make all four award lists in 2011. On 1 November 2011, he was announced as the winner of the Rogers Prize, and on 15 November 2011, he was announced as the winner of Canada's 2011 Governor General's Award for English language fiction. On 26 April 2012, the book The Sisters Brothers won the 2012 Stephen Leacock Award. Alongside Edugyan, The Sisters Brothers was also a shortlisted nominee for the 2012 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. The Sisters Brothers has been adapted as a film to be released in 2018.