Rajeev Balasubramanyam was born in 1974 in Lancashire, and originates from Southern India. He is a graduate of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He has had short stories published in a variety of anthologies, including New Writing 12. His first novel, set in India with a 17-year-old unnamed narrator, is entitled In Beautiful Disguises (2000). It won a Betty Trask Award in 1999. He is currently working on a second novel, based on a short story which was originally shortlisted for the 1999 Ian St James Award.