Painting of author © Ilana Radin
Diane Lefer’s fiction has been recognized with many literary awards including the Mary McCarthy Prize for her story collection, California Transit. Fomite Press previously published her novel, Confessions of a Carnivore, inspired by her relationship with a drill baboon at the LA Zoo. With Hector Aristizábal, she co-authored The Blessing Next to the Wound: A story of art, activism, and transformation, and co-created the play, Nightwind, which toured the world as part of the global movement to end the practice of torture. She works in Los Angeles with survivors of violent persecution as they seek asylum and begin to heal and rebuild their lives.