Brian Castro was born in Hong Kong of Portuguese, Chinese and English parentage. He is the author of many novels, including Birds Of Passage (1983), Double-Wolf (1991), After China (1992), Stepper (1997), Shanghai Dancing (2003), and The Garden Book (2006). Together these novels won The Age Book of the Year Award, the Victorian Premier’s Award (three times), the National Book Council Award, the NSW Premier’s Award and the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award. Castro’s novel in thirty-four cantos, Blindness and Rage, won the Prime Minister’s Prize for Poetry in 2018. His latest novel Chinese Postman (2024) was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the ALS Gold Medal. He is also the author of a collection of essays, Looking for Estrellita, and the novella Street to Street, based on the life of the poet Christopher Brennan. In 2014 Castro received the Patrick White Award in recognition of his significant contribution to Australian literature. He was shortlisted in 2026 for the Asia Pacific Arts Awards in the legacy category.