Blatnik was born in Ljubljana in 1963. He received a master's in American literature at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts, and a PhD at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Social Sciences in communication studies in 2004. He worked as a freelance writer before becoming the fiction editor for the Slovenian publisher Cankarjeva Založba. He has been an associate professor at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts since 2009, and was the president of the jury for the Central EuropeanLiterary Prize between 2007 and 2015. In 1984 he won the Zlata Ptica award for his first book of short stories, Šopki za Adama venijo, in 1991 the Župančič Award of the City of Ljubljana for his book of short stories Menjave kož, and in 2002 the highest Slovene cultural award, the Prešeren Foundation Award, for his book of short stories Zakon želje. His novel Spremeni me was shortlisted for best novel of the year in 2009, and his book of essays and literary studiesNeonski pečati for the best book of essays in 2006. Blatnik's first book, Šopki za Adama venijo, is regarded in Slovenia as the first independent book of the generation of the 1980s. His popular topic is "the relations between the sexes, which he treats with sophistication, good humour, and irony. Chance encounters, fleeting relationships, resigned farewells, misunderstandings, and reconciliations are the stuff of many of his short stories. In view of his travels, especially in the United States, the human landscape is frequently cosmopolitan. His style is direct and laconic, in both prose narration and dialogue." His short stories have been translated into about 30 languages and he has published over 25 books in other countries, including four in English—Skinswaps, You Do Understand, Law of Desire and Change Me —seven in Croatian, four in Macedonian, three in German and Turkish, two in Spanish, Italian, Serbian and Czech, and also books in Russian, French, Slovak, Odia and Hungarian. Skinswaps received favorable reviews in Publishers Weekly, The New York Times, Kirkus Review, and elsewhere. You Do Understand received an equally positive response in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Review, and Library Journal. Publishers Weekly noted that in Law of Desire "some stories delve into darkly profound territory, like 'A Thin Red Line,' in which a former terrorist chooses a humanitarian suicide, sacrificing himself for a tribe's rain ritual" and "some pieces are wonderfully humorous."
