Pico Iyer was born in Oxford in 1957 to parents from India then grew up in California and currently lives in Japan. He is the author of eight books: his first, Video Night in Kathmandu, appeared on many lists of the top travel-books of the 20th century, and his second, The Lady and the Monkwas was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in the category of Current Interest. His first novel, Cuba and the Night, was optioned six times and then bought by Hollywood, and his book The Global Soul inspired multi-media shows, musical works and websites around the world. Since 1980 he has also written voluminously for magazines in America, Europe and Asia. In 1995 Iyer was named by the Utne Reader, along with the likes of Noam Chomsky and Vaclav Havel, as one of 100 visionaries worldwide who could change your life. Pico Iyer has been engaged in conversation with the Dalai Lama (a friend of his father’s) for the last three decades – a continuing exploration of his message and its effectiveness.