Tavish McDonell was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1976. He studied film and theatre at the University of British Columbia before moving to England to earn a certificate in teaching English as a foreign language. At the age of 20 he moved to Warsaw, Poland, to teach English. He spent three years in the country, teaching mainly in Warsaw and Bydgoszcz. In 1999 he returned to Canada and earned a BA in English Literature from the University of Toronto. In 2006 McGill University granted his MA in English Literature with a focus on writing fiction. Tavish often talks to his cat about publishing his master’s thesis, the astonishing novella Plankwalk. He is currently working on a novel based on his experiences in Poland. Tavish lives, writes and teaches college English in Montréal, Québec.