Carlos Ruiz Zafón

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Carlos Ruiz Zafón in Barcelona.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a Spanish novelist. Born in Barcelona in 1964, he has lived in Los Angeles, United States, since 1993, and works as a scriptwriter aside from writing novels.

His 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 more young-adult novels, El palacio de la medianoche (1994), Las luces de septiembre (1995) and Marina (1999).

In 2001 he published the novel La sombra del viento ("The Shadow of the Wind"), his first "adult" novel, which has sold millions of copies worldwide. Since its publication, La sombra del viento has garnered critical acclaim around the world and has won numerous international awards. It has sold more than a million copies in the UK alone.Ruiz Zafón's works have been published in more than 40 countries and have been translated into more than 30 languages.

Ruiz Zafón's eagerly awaited second novel, a prequel to the bestselling The Shadow of the Wind has been acquired by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and the English edition will be published in hardback in late spring of 2009. It will be called The Angel's Game and is set in Barcelona during the 1920s and 1930s. It follows a young writer who is approached by a mysterious figure to write a book. The Spanish edition will be published in April 2008 by Planeta. The English edition will be translated by Lucia Graves, daughter of the poet Robert Graves.