Alain Mabanckou was born in Congo-Brazzaville in 1966. He is the author of six volumes of poetry and five novels. He recently received the Prix Renaudot, one of the highest and most prestigious literary prizes in France, for his novel Memoires de porc-epic (Memoirs of a Porcupine). He currently resides in the United States, where he teaches literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. African Psycho is his first novel translated into English. He was recently selected by the French magazine, Lire, as one of fifty writers to watch in the coming century.