Kenneth Oppel

Born in 1967 in the mill town of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, the author spent much of his youth in Victoria, B.C., and later in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His journey toward becoming a writer began around the age of twelve, after earlier aspirations of becoming a scientist and then an architect.

He dove into storytelling through imaginative phases, crafting sci-fi epics during his Star Wars obsession, followed by swords-and-sorcery adventures inspired by his Dungeons & Dragons days. But it was a summer holiday at age fourteen that marked a turning point: he penned a humorous tale about a boy addicted to video games, drawn from his own then-current fascination. The story, surprisingly long and ambitious for a teenager, would become his first real attempt at a novel.

A fortunate connection through a family friend led to his manuscript reaching one of his literary idols, Roald Dahl. While he never heard directly from Dahl, the legendary author read the story and liked it enough to forward it to his literary agent. Soon after, the young writer received a letter: the agency wanted to represent him and pitch his story. And they did.

This early encouragement helped launch what would become a lifelong dedication to storytelling.