James Meek

James Meek was born in London in 1962. He has published five novels and two short story collections. He has been working as a journalist since 1985 (freelance reporting) and lived in the former Soviet Union from 1991 to 1999 as part of his work. He currently resides in London, where he collaborates with "The Guardian" newspaper and the magazines "London Review of Books" and "Granta." He was the journalist whose reports from Iraq and Guantanamo in 2004 received British and international accolades. He made his literary debut with the novel "McFarlane Boils the Sea" in 1989, followed by the short story collections "Last Orders and Other Stories" in 1992, "The Museum of Doubt" in 2000, and the novels "Drivetime" in 1995, "The People's Act of Love" in 2005 (Greek title: "Το λαϊκό διάταγμα της αγάπης," Ellinika Grammata, 2005), "We Are Now Beginning Our Descent" in 2008 (Greek title: "Τώρα αρχίζουμε την κάθοδό μας," Topos, 2008), and "The Heart Broke In" in 2012. His novel "The People's Act of Love"—a reconstruction of events that took place in Siberia during the Russian Revolution, depicting the realities and dilemmas of an era dominated by political extremism—was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and was awarded the Best Book of the Year (2006) by the Scottish Arts Council, as well as the Ondaatje Prize in 2006. His novel "The Heart Broke In" was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award (formerly Whitbread) in 2012.