What does the world need most right now?

Award-winning author of Life of Pi, and Trent alumni, Yann Martel, shares a must-read perspective on society that he gained on campus

Bestselling author, winner of several prominent literary awards, and now a companion of the Order of Canada, Yann Martel’s star continues to shine bright.

Yann ’81 is probably best known for his Man Booker Prize-winning novel, Life of Pi, but has published several page-turners, including The High Mountains of Portugal, Beatrice and Virgil, and Self. Often described as one of Canada's most wildly imaginative writers, Yann did not start out to become a writer. He began writing, on the side, while studying Philosophy at Trent.

"I was terrible, at first. I wrote a bunch of really bad plays and short stories. But I loved playing with language, creating a set, inventing characters," he says. "I kept at it and, slowly, I became a writer."

Looking back, he values the intimacy and quality of the Trent experience and sees the environment at Trent as being conducive to the development of broad-minded, critical thinkers.

"The world needs, above all else, thinking citizens who are informed in a way that they can deal with the world's complexity. You need a mind that is supple and resilient. A good university, like Trent, can develop that."