Shimon Adaf was born in Sderot, Israel, in 1972 to parents of Moroccan origin. He published three collections of poetry and nine novels. His third collection of poetry Aviva-No won the “Yehuda Amichai” Poetry Award in 2010, and his novel Mox Nox won the “Sapir Prize” (the Israeli equivalent of the “Booker” Prize) in 2011. He resides in Ramat Gan and teaches Creative writing and literature in Ben Gurion University.