Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Carlos Ruiz Zafón in 2008
Born	Carlos Ruiz Zafón (1964-09-25) 25 September 1964 (age 52) Barcelona, Spain
Occupation	Writer
Language	Spanish
Period	1993–present

Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Spanish pronunciation: ['karlos 'rwiθ θa'fon]; born 25 September 1964) is a Spanish novelist.

Ruiz Zafón's first novel, El Príncipe de la Niebla (The Prince of Mist, 1993), earned the Edebé literary prize for young adult fiction. He is also the author of three additional young adult novels, El palacio de la medianoche (1994), Las luces de septiembre (1995) and Marina (1999). The English version of El Príncipe de la Niebla was published in 2010.

In 2001 he published his first adult novel La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind), a mystery that involves Daniel Sempere's quest to track down the man responsible for destroying every book written by author Julian Carax. The novel has sold millions of copies worldwide and more than a million copies in the UK alone. Since its publication, La sombra del viento has garnered critical acclaim around the world and has won many international awards. Ruiz Zafón's next novel, El juego del ángel, was published in April 2008. The English edition, The Angel's Game, is translated by Lucia Graves, daughter of the poet Robert Graves. It is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind, also set in Barcelona, but during the 1920s and 1930s. It follows (and is narrated by) David Martin, a young writer who is approached by a mysterious figure to write a book. Ruiz Zafón intends it to be included in a four book series along with The Shadow of the Wind. The next book in the cycle, El prisionero del cielo, appeared in 2011, which returns to The Shadow of the Wind's Daniel Sempere and his travel back to the 1940s to resolve a buried secret. The novel was published in English in July 2012 as The Prisoner of Heaven.