Michel Layaz was born in 1963 and devides his time between Lausanne and Paris. He is considered as one of Switzerland’s major writers of the new generation. He is the author of "A Patch of Land" (1993), "The Heirs" (2001), "The Joyful Complaint of an Idiot" (2004). "The Tears of My Mother" (2002) established him as a major writer worldwide and won the prestigious DANTAN prize.