William Boyd, born on 7th March 1952, is a novelist and screenwriter hailing from Accra, Ghana, of Scottish descent. Boyd spent much of his early life in Ghana and Nigeria, where his mother worked as a teacher and his father served as a doctor. His experiences during the Biafran War, a brutal secessionist conflict in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970, profoundly influenced him.

At the age of nine, Boyd attended Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland, followed by studies at Nice University, where he earned a Diploma of French Studies. He continued his education at Glasgow University, receiving an MA Hons in English and Philosophy, and served as the editor of the Glasgow University Guardian. Boyd then pursued further studies at Jesus College, Oxford, completing a PhD thesis on Shelley. He briefly worked as a TV critic for the New Statesman magazine before embarking on his career as a writer.