Photo: Tulane Public Relations / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Ondaatje is one of the few novelists whose prose I would read for the sentences alone. Born in Colombo and shaped in Canada, he came to fiction through poetry, and it shows: his books drift like memory, full of desert light, loss and silence. The English Patient earned the Booker, but I prize his quieter rhythms more than the accolades. He writes time as something that slows and pools rather than races forward. Among the Order of Canada honors and Giller Prizes, what stays with me is the temperature of his language, intimate and unhurried. He is a writer who makes reading feel like remembering.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Michael Ondaatje
- Name (Japanese)
- マイケル・オンダーチェ
- Reading
- まいける・おんだーちぇ
- Born
- September 12, 1943 (age 82)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Goat
- Origin
- Colombo, Colombo District, Sri Lanka
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- poet / novelist / pedagogue / writer / screenwriter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of Toronto
Awards & achievements
- 1984 Guggenheim Fellowship
- Companion of the Order of Canada
- 2000 Prix Médicis étranger
- 1995 Nelly Sachs Prize
- 1992 Booker Prize
- 2012 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- 2000 Giller Prize
- 2007 Governor General's Award for English-language fiction
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | The English Patient | — | |
| Notable work | Divisadero | — | |
| Notable work | Coming Through Slaughter | — |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Michael Ondaatje born?
Born September 12, 1943 (age 82).
Where is Michael Ondaatje from?
Michael Ondaatje is from Colombo, Colombo District, Sri Lanka.
What does Michael Ondaatje do?
Michael Ondaatje works as poet, novelist, pedagogue, writer, screenwriter.
What is Michael Ondaatje known for?
Notable works include The English Patient, Divisadero, Coming Through Slaughter.
Poet — see all → · Novelist — see all → · More people from Sri Lanka →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-21
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.