Junot Diaz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and received his Master of Fine Arts Degree from Cornell University. His collection of short stories, Drown, was described as 'a dazzlingly talented first book' by Hermione Lee in the Independent on Sunday. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is his debut novel. He teaches creative writing at MIT (Massachussetts Institute of Technology)