Gonalo M. Tavares was born in 1970 and spent his childhood in Aveiro in northern Portugal. 2005, Tavares won the Saramago Prize for young writers under thirty-five for his novel Jerusalem. His other novels include A mquina de Joseph Walser and Um homem: Klaus Klump. His first collection of poems, Livro da dana (Book of the Dance), was published in 2001. His novel Aprender a rezar na Era de Tcnica has received the prestigious Prize of the Best Foreign Book 2010 in France and was also shortlisted for the renowned French literary awards Femina tranger Prize and Mdicis Prize.He teaches epistemology at the University of Lisbon.