Born in Los Angeles, Ann Patchett grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives today. She has written for years for magazines such as “Harper’s Magazine”, “New York Times Magazine”, “Vogue” and “Washington Post”. Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2002 with the novel Bel Canto, Ann Patchett is the author of novels which have been met by critical acclaim and have been translated into thirty languages. Her books include The Patron Saint of Liars (1992), Taft (1994), The Magician’s Assistant (1997) and Run (2007). In 2006 she edited the anthology series The Best American Short Stories. Her latest novel, State of Wonder (2011), set in the Amazon rainforest, is a call to reflect on the delicate balance between ethics and science.