Christopher Paul Curtis was born in Flint, Michigan. After high school graduation, he worked on the assembly line of the Fisher Body Plant for 13 years, until Christopher took a year off work to write his first novel. Luckily for us, he has not looked back.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 won a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor book citation in 1996. Bud, Not Buddy received the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award in 2000.

His most recent book, Elijah of Buxton has garnered multiple awards, including a Newbery Honor, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Elijah of Buxton was also named CLA Book of the Year in 2008 and the year before, was a finalist in the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature.
"This novel came to me in a way that was far different than any other," says Curtis. "From the word 'go' Elijah and I became close friends. When I'd go to the library to write, it was as if he were anxiously waiting for me, waiting to tell about his life, his worries, his adventures."

Christopher lives with his wife and two children in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.