Anthony Doerr was born in Cleveland in 1973 and attended University School before focusing on History at Bowdoin College in Maine. He finished his schooling with a Masters in Fine Arts from Bowling Green University. Doerr fondly remembers his mother reading C. S. Lewis to him as a child and marveling at the concept that words could trigger such vivid spells of imagination. He considered the great truth that with as little as a pen and paper anyone could craft stories that would entertain and inspire.

Doerr has published several novels, two collections of short stories and a memoir. The collection of short stories titled ‘The Shell Collector’ and the novel Grace preceded his memoir. The memoir Four Seasons chronicles the time he won a competition and was awarded a yearlong scholarship in Rome which coincided with the birth of his twin children. Following this, Doerr published All the light We Cannot See in 2014 calling it a labour of love that took 10 years.