Adam Thirlwell was born in 1978, and grew up in North London. He is the author of two novels, Politics and The Escape; a novella, Kapow!; and a project with international novels that includes an essay book, Miss Herbert, which won a Somerset Maugham Award and a compendium of translations edited for McSweeney’s. He was selected as one of Granta‘s Best of Young British Novelists. His work has been translated into thirty languages.