Russell Banks (Newton, Massachusetts, 1940) grew up in a family of humble and dysfunctional origin, an environment that would mark his writing. Before devoting himself to literature, he was a plumber, shoe salesman and window dresser. Since 1969 he divides his time between teaching and writing. He is the author of twenty titles, and his novels include Affliction, Continental Drift and The Sweet Hereafter. His works, translated into twenty languages, have been finalists for the PEN / Faulkner and Pulitzer prizes. His novels Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter have been made into movies.