Diagnosed with cancer aged six, Damon Galgut spent long hospital stays reading and being read to. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1963, Galgut wrote his first novel, A Sinless Season, at 17. A collection of short stories, four plays and three more novels followed. His fourth, The Good Doctor (2003), won the 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region) and was shortlisted for the Man Booker. Galgut lives in Cape Town.

When did you know you were going to be a writer?