Toni Marques was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 and is a former New York correspondent for O Globo newspaper (2000- 2003), and a story editor for Fantastico, a leading weekly news show at TV Globo, where he has worked since 2007. He is currently the curator of FLUPP – the first and only international literary festival hosted by shanty town communities in Brazil. He has published four books. Two of his short stories have been published in French by Éditions Anacaona.