Benjamin Markovits grew up in Texas, London and Berlin. His novels include Either Side of Winter, You don't Have to Live Like This and, most recently, The Sidekick. He has published essays, stories, poetry and reviews in the Guardian, Granta, The Paris Review and The New York Times, among others. In 2013 Granta selected him as one of their Best of Young British Novelists and in 2015 he won the Eccles British Library Writer in Residence Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He lives in London and teaches creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.