Tan Twan Eng is a Malaysian novelist born in 1972, known for his works written in English. Born in Penang, Tan lived in various places across Malaysia during his childhood. He pursued law at the University of London and worked as a lawyer at a prestigious firm in Kuala Lumpur. In 2016, he served as an International Writer-in-Residence at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Tan debuted with his novel, The Gift of Rain, in 2007, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and translated into multiple languages including Italian, Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Czech, and Serbian. His second novel, The Garden of Evening Mists (2011), brought him further acclaim, winning the Man Asian Literary Prize and the Walter Scott Prize, and it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Tan became the first Malaysian to be recognized by all three prestigious awards.