F.G. Paci was born in Italy and grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He was the Elia Chair writer-in-residence at York University and has an honorary degree from Laurentian University. He is the author of more than a dozen novels, among them: The Italians, Oberon Press, 1978. (Signet Ed. 1980. French trans. La Famille Gaetano, Guernica, 1990); Black Madonna, Oberon, 1982; The Father, Oberon, 1984; Black Blood, Oberon, 1991; Icelands, Oberon, 1999. Italian Shoes, Guernica, 2002 (Italian Trans. Scarpe Italiane, Iannone, Italy, 2008); Hard Edge, Guernica, 2005; Peace Tower, Guernica, 2009; and The Son, Oberon, 2011. A book of essays on his work (F.G. Paci: Essays on His Work, ed. J. Pivato, Guernica) came out in 2003. He lives in Toronto with his wife and has one son.