Andrés Ibáñez was born in Madrid in 1961. He studied music with the intention of becoming a composer until he abandoned the conservatoire and began to play jazz. He took French Studies at the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid, and after travelling to India, he moved to New York in 1989, and wrote several plays which premiered Off Off Broadway. Here he finished his first novel “La Música del Mundo”, which was published by Seix Barral in 1995 and won him the RNE Premio Ojo Crítico de Narrativa award. On his return to Spain, Ibáñez published “El Mundo en la Era de Varick” (Siruela, 1999). The publication of “La Sombra del Pájaro Lira” in 2005 confirmed his standing as a key figure in new Spanish writing, making him into a cult author for a new generation of readers.