Antonio Altarriba was born in Zaragoza in 1952. Son of an anarchist and a nun, to use his own words, his youth was divided between Zaragoza and France, where his father maintained numerous friendships formed during his exile from Spain. A professor of French literature in the University of the Basque Country, Altarriba began publishing comics in the 1980s.  In addition to his work in this medium, he has also published numerous works of fiction and essays. The Art of Flying was awarded Spain’s National Comic Prize in 2010.