Lynne Sharon Schwartz is the author of nineteen books, which include fiction, nonfiction, essays, poetry, and translations. Her first novel, Rough Strife, was nominated for a National Book Award. Her wide-ranging work includes the coming-of-age novel Leaving Brooklyn, nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction; the poetry collection In Solitary; and the memoir Not Now, Voyager. Schwartz translates from Italian and is on the faculty of the Bennington Writing Seminars. She lives in Manhattan.