Hannah Lillith Assadi is an acclaimed novelist and educator whose debut novel, "Sonora," earned widespread recognition. Published in 2017 by Soho Press, the book received the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction. In 2018, Assadi was named a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" honoree, cementing her status as a rising literary talent. Her second novel, "The Stars Are Not Yet Bells," was released in 2022 by Riverhead Books.
Assadi holds an MFA in fiction from Columbia University School of the Arts, where she now teaches creative writing. She previously earned her bachelor's degree from Columbia University, graduating summa cum laude and winning the Philolexian Prize for her poetry and fiction. Born and raised in Arizona, she draws inspiration from her Southwestern roots, infusing her lyrical prose with themes of displacement, identity, and memory. Her work has been praised for its poetic sensibility and emotional depth.
Currently based in Brooklyn with her family, Assadi continues to write and mentor emerging writers. Her contributions to contemporary literature have established her as a distinctive voice in American fiction.