April 30, 1971

On this day in 1971, popular Irish novelist John Boyne was born in Dublin. Boyne is best known for his 2006 release The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, which is narrated by a 6-year-old German boy whose father is a Nazi Commandant at Auschwitz during WWII. The book held the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list, has sold more than 5 million copies around the world, and was made into a major motion picture. Boyne attended Trinity College, Dublin and studied creative writing in the University of East Anglia’s highly regarded program. When he was just starting out as a writer, he worked at Waterstones Books in Dublin and wrote at night. He is the author of 9 novels – most recently a work titled The Absolutist.