Ken Follett

Ken Follett has sold more than fifty million books worldwide, an astounding number that should come as no surprise to readers familiar with his work. He is the author of more than a dozen best-selling books, including "Eye of the Needle," which first catapulted Follett to international best-seller status. Published in 1978, the thriller won the Edgar award and has sold more than ten million copies.

Follett is unquestionably one of the most extraordinarily talented storytellers in the world. From thrillers such as "The Key To Rebecca" and the award-winning "Jackdaws," to the nonfiction "On Wings of Eagles" and novels like "The Pillars of the Earth," about building a cathedral in the middle ages, the common thread in all of his books is a powerful narrative drive, strong women characters, and elements of suspense and intrigue.

Follett has toured the United States to give an academic lecture about the history of the thriller. In his brilliant and insightful presentation, Follett outlines a hundred years of suspense writing, from the genre’s beginnings in Edgar Allan Poe’s work to the sophisticated books of John Le Carre and John Grisham, and discusses how thrillers work and how they draw readers into their suspenseful worlds.

After graduating from University College, London, with an Honours degree in philosophy, Follett became a reporter. He first worked for his hometown newspaper, the South Wales Echo, and later with the London Evening News. While working on the Evening News he wrote his first novel, which did not sell well. He then went to work for a small London publishing house and continued to write novels in his spare time. "Eye of the Needle" was actually Follett’s eleventh book, and his first best seller.

Follett is married to Barbara Follett, the Member of Parliament for Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England. Always interested in politics, Follett helps his wife’s campaigns and works with her on other Labour Party activities. They live in a rambling rectory in Stevenage and also have an eighteenth-century town house in London and a holiday home in Antigua.

In a busy life focused on work, family and politics, Follett also manages to find time for involvement in his community. He was the chair of the National Year of Reading from 1998-99, a British government initiative to raise literacy levels. He is the president of the Dyslexia Institute, chair of the advisory committee of Reading Is Fundamental (R.I.F.) UK, council member of the National Literacy Trust, fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and chair of Governors of Roebuck Primary School & Nursery. He is active in numerous Stevenage charities.

Follett is a lover of Shakespeare, and is often to be seen at performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. An enthusiastic amateur musician, he plays bass guitar in a band called Damn Right I Got the Blues.