Shimon Adaf was born in Sderot, Israel, in 1972 to parents of Moroccan origin and now lives in Tel Aviv. He began publishing poetry during his military service. An esteemed poet, novelist, and musician, Adaf worked for several years as the chief literary editor at Keter Publishing House and has also been writer-in-residence at Iowa University. He published three poetry books and seven novels so far. Today he is the head of the creative writing program at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Adaf has been awarded the Ministry of Education Award (1996), the Prime Minister’s Prize (2007), the Yehuda Amichai Prize for Poetry (2010), and the Sapir Prize for his novel Mox Nox (2013).