'Interesting things happening to interesting people'

"I want readers turning pages until three o'clock in the morning.  I want the themes of books to stick around for a reader.  I'm always trying to find a way to balance characters and theme." - Guy Gavriel Kay

Born in Canada on Nov. 7, 1954 Kay has had a knack for creating “page turner” books over several decades. He cut his teeth on fantasy writing by traveling to Oxford to assist Christopher Tolkien, son of J.R.R. Tolkien, in editing J.R.R.’s unpublished work The Silmarillion, then began his own career with The Summer Tree. 

Many of Kay’s 17 novels are set in fictional realms that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I, or Spain during the time of El Cid.    Among his recent bestsellers are A Brightness Long Ago and its sequel All the Seas of the World, inspired by the Italian Wars in the 15th Century.   His next book, Written on the Dark, set in Medieval France, is scheduled for release in May.  Kay’s novels have been translated into some 30 languages with settings and lead characters from almost every era.

He’s won multiple awards, including The World Fantasy Award for Ysabel, set in modern day France while also putting his teenage lead into direct contact with characters from both the distant past and a “parallel” world to ours.   “I have always argued,” he said, “(that) in a good novel, interesting things happen to interesting people, no matter who they are or where they are from.”