Teju Cole was born to Nigerian parents and grew up in Lagos. At fifteen, Cole published cartoons regularly in Prime People, Nigeria’s version of Vanity Fair, and two years later he moved to the United States. He is the author of two critically acclaimed books: Every Day is for the Thief, a novella illustrated with his photographs; and the novel Open City, which was published in February. In 2010, he was named by The New Yorker as one of the “20 Under 40″ writers to watch this decade. He is working on his Ph.D. in art history.