Karin Amatmoekrim was born in Paramaribo, Surinam in 1976 to a Javanese mother and a Chinese-Creole-Indian father. She emigrated to The Netherlands with her mother and younger brother at the age of five. She studied psychology for two years at the University of Amsterdam before turning her attention to Dutch literature. She made her literary debut in 2004 with ‘Het knipperleven’ (Flashlife), an existential take on life in the fast lane for a group of twenty-somethings. Two years later, Amatmoekrim drew on her own family history for her second novel ‘Wanneer wij samen zijn’ (When we are together). It tells the story of three generations of a Javanese-Surinamese family. In 2006 Amatmoekrim was asked to contribute to a collection of short stories called ‘25 under 35’, highlighting the most notable young writers in The Netherlands and Belgium. Her third novel ‘Titus’ published this year was nominated for the Black Magic Women’s Literary Prize. (Also nominated was Radio Books author Naima el Bezaz.)