D. M. Thomas was born in Cornwall in 1935. After reading English at New College, Oxford, he became a teacher until he became a full-time writer. His novels include THE FLUTE PLAYER, ARARAT, SWALLOW, SPHINX, SUMMIT, FLYING INTO LOVE and EATING PAVLOVA. He has also published memoirs, several volumes of poetry and translations of Pushkin and Anna Akhmatova. He now lives in Cornwall.