Henning Mankell was born in Stockholm in 1948. He grew up in Harjedelan where his father, a judge, brought him up alone. At the age of 17, he returned to Stockholm to work as Assistant Director at the "Riks" theatre. Throughout the 1960s he worked both as an author and theatre director and his first original works, reflecting the social and political events of the times were published in 1968. In 1972 he realised his childhood ambition by travelling to Africa where he spent two years in Zambia. His experiences there influenced his work in the 1970s when he produced several plays based around the themes of class struggle and labour movements. During the 1980s, he worked as playwright and director for various theatres in Sweden and in 1985 was invited to Mozambique to help build the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. His most famous character, Inspector Kurt Wallander, is the result of an idea for a plot for a detective novel developed in 1990 reflecting the growing problem of racism in Sweden at the time. The book "Morder ohhe Gesicht" published in 1991 proved so popular that a further 8 Wallander novels have followed. The Inspector Wallander books earned Mankell the Silver Keys of the Scandinavian Society of Criminal Literature in 1991 and awards from the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers in 1991, 1992 and 1995. The books have been translated into 15 languages and have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide making Mankell one of Swedens most successful authors. His latest work includes two books set in Africa and he has recently set up a forum in Sweden for Swedish and African writers, the "Leoparfolag". Mankell now lives six months of the year in Maputo where he has worked as director of the Teatro Avenida since 1996.