Critically acclaimed Egyptian author, Miral al-Tahawy was born in Sharqiya in the Egyptian Delta into a Bedouin family of the al-Hanadi tribe. The youngest of seven children, since 2011 she has been Assistant Professor of Arabic Literature and Middle East/Islamic Studies in the School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC) at Arizona State University. Her previous works The Tent (1998), Blue Aubergine (2002), Gazelle Tracks (2009), have collectively been translated into many languages. Brooklyn Heights won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature when translated into English.