Before becoming a full-time writer in 1990, Charles Palliser taught literature and creative writing in universities in the UK and the USA. He has published four novels: The Quincunx, The Sensationist, Betrayals and The Unburied. The Quincunx was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. His fiction has been translated into a dozen languages. He has also written for radio and television.