Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta and grew up in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India. He studied at the Universities of Delhi and Oxford, has taught at a number of institutions, and written for many magazines. River of Smoke is the second novel in the Ibis Trilogy, the first of which, the best-selling Sea of Poppies, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008. He currently divides his time between Calcutta, Goa, and Brooklyn.