Nathalie Handal is described as a “contemporary Orpheus.” She grew up in Latin America, Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, of a Palestinian family from Bethlehem. She is the author or editor of ten books, including Life in a Country Album, winner of the Palestine Book Award; The Republics, winner of the Arab American Book Award; and Love and Strange Horses, winner of the Gold Medal Independent Publisher Book Award. She is a professor of literature and creative writing at New York University.