# Benjamin Markovits > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Markovits > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Markovits.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Markovits > Source revision: 1341885404 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Benjamin Markovits** [FRSL](/source/Royal_Society_of_Literature#Fellows) (born 1973) is a British-American writer. He is the author of twelve novels, among them a trilogy on the life of poet [Lord Byron](/source/Lord_Byron). Markovits was selected as one of the [Best of Young British Novelists](/source/Best_of_Young_British_Novelists) by *[Granta](/source/Granta)* magazine in 2013. In 2016, his novel *You Don't Have To Live Like This* won the [James Tait Black Prize for Fiction](/source/James_Tait_Black_Prize_for_Fiction). In 2025, his novel *[The Rest of Our Lives](/source/The_Rest_of_Our_Lives)* was shortlisted for the [2025 Booker Prize](/source/2025_Booker_Prize).[1] ## Background Born in 1973[2] in California, United States, Ben Markovits grew up in Texas, London and [Berlin](/source/Berlin), and studied at [Yale University](/source/Yale_University) and the [University of Oxford](/source/University_of_Oxford). He has worked as a high-school English teacher and as the editor of a left-wing culture magazine.[3] After college, he played professional basketball in [Landshut](/source/Landshut), Germany, for a team in the southern league of the German second division.[4] Markovits now lives in London, England, where he teaches creative writing at [Royal Holloway, University of London](/source/Royal_Holloway,_University_of_London).[5]