Lindsay Clarke was born in Halifax and educated at King's College, Cambridge. He has worked in further education in Norfolk, as well as holding a post as Writer-in-Residence and long-term Associate of the Writing Programme at the University of Wales, Cardiff. He and his wife now live in Somerset. His second novel The Chymical Wedding, won the 1989 Whitbread Prize for Fiction. He has extensive knowledge of mythology and runs workshops in the UK and abroad.