Michel Laub was born in the Southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, in 1973, and lives now in São Paulo. He graduated in Law, and has made a career in Journalism, having reached the position of editor-in-chief of Bravo, the most important cultural magazine in Brazil. He is now responsible for the area of publications and courses at the Moreira Salles Institute, Brazil´s largest private institution for cultural promotion, as well as being a collaborator as a freelance for several newspapers and magazines. He is also on the teaching staff of creative fiction at the International Cinema Academy of São Paulo.
In literature he has published three novels, all with Companhia das Letras, the same publishing company in Brazil of authors such as J. M. Coetzee, Philip Roth, Martin Amis, Amós Oz and José Saramago. The books are: Música Anterior (Previous Music) (2001), dealing with a judge involved with a marital crisis, and a controversial lawsuit involving rape; Longe da Água (Far from the Water) (2004), on a love triangle involving two surfers, and a 15-year-old girl; and O Segundo Tempo (Second Half), on a boy who needs to tell his younger brother about their parents´ separation, during a historical football match in Porto Alegre.
Normally associated to themes such as memory, guilt and loss, his work has received the Erico Veríssimo Award, from the Brazilian Writers Union, and became finalist in two of the country´s most important awards, Jabuti (2007) and, twice, Portugal Telecom Award (2005 e 2007).
