AUTHOR BIO

Martyn's career has taken him around the world, making films and writing novels.

In his days as teenager in suburban Toronto, Martyn Burke set out to see the world. His adventures took him from the American South during the violent civil rights era to wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, insurrections in Northern Ireland, Africa, and South America, and historic events like China’s "Cultural Revolution," where, as a student from Canada, he was among the last Westerners admitted before the country closed its borders

During Idi Amin's murderous reign in Uganda, Martyn was one of only two filmmakers granted full access to the dictator, even persuading Amin to drive him through Kampala on a personal tour.

At the height of the Cold War, he journeyed through the Soviet Union from Tashkent to the forbidden Arctic port of Murmansk, later spending an afternoon in the Kremlin with the ruling Politburo. He went on to direct documentaries exposing Soviet espionage in the West, including hidden-camera encounters with assassins and saboteurs from "Department V."

His adventures also included sleeping in bullet-belt-lined caves in the Hindu Kush, flying on bombing raids, crossing the Amazon and Mekong in dugout boats, and racing across the St. Lawrence in smugglers’ speedboats built to outrun Mounted Police patrols.

Working with CBC, CBS, BBC, TF-1, PBS, and others, Martyn created projects such as the acclaimed Connections series on organized crime, which featured hidden-camera mafia sting operations from Rome to California. He also lived for a season with a massive American traveling carnival and later, confronted record companies that withheld royalties from legendary Rhythm & Blues artists like Bo Diddley, Brook Benton, and Big Joe Turner.

Alongside these ventures, Martyn pursued his central passion—novels. He has published six highly acclaimed novels—Laughing War, The Commissar's Report, Ivory Joe, Tiara, The Truth About the Night, and Music for Love or War. His books, translated into six languages, have been the subject of several Hollywood film-rights deals.

Brought to Hollywood by Dustin Hoffman and Columbia Pictures, he co-wrote Top Secret, named by the BBC in 2018 as one of the 100 greatest film comedies. He later directed feature films with Peter O'Toole, Sylvester Stallone, and Anthony Quinn. His honors include Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, nominations for Academy and Guild Awards, the Prix Gémeaux, the Canadian Film Award, and the International Press Institute’s Auteur Award.

In 2001, McMaster University named him Alumnus of the Year and in 2018 awarded him an Honorary Doctorate.

He has recently completed his latest novel, The Gossip Columnist, set in 1920s Berlin, and is preparing to direct his next film, Dancing in the Dark, in Havana, Cuba.

To learn more about Martyn’s trajectory visit his site www.martynburke.com