THREE TIME WINNER OF THE LEACOCK MEDAL

An award-winning novelist and travel writer, Will Ferguson is the author of more than a dozen books ranging from budget travel guides to works of literary fiction.

WILL FERGUSON was born and raised in a former fur-trading post in Northern Canada. "Closer to the Arctic Circle than the American border."

As a teenager he lived and worked in Ecuador, South America, as part of CWY (roughly equivalent to the Peace Corps).

A graduate of the York University Film School, where he studied screenwriting and film production, Will spent five years in Japan, first on the Amakusa Islands south of Nagasaki and then later on the Kyushu mainland.

He has walked across Northern Ireland in the rain, and has hitchhiked the length of Japan, following the springtime "Cherry Blossom Front" that washes across Japan every year.

As a college student, he once worked as a professional space cadet at the CN Tower's "Tour of the Universe."

And in 2010, he was named the head writer on the Vancouver Olympics Closing Ceremonies, penning material for the likes of William Shatner and Michael J. Fox.

He lives in Calgary, Canada, in the foothills of the Rockies, with his wife Terumi and their two young sons.