Born in Haifa in 1963, Judith Katzir studied literature and cinema at Tel Aviv University. At present, she is an editor at Hakibbutz Hameuchad/ Siman Kriah Publishing House and teaches creative writing. Katzir, a bestselling author in Israel, has published collections of stories and novellas, novels and children's books. In addition to literary prizes for individual stories, Katzir has received the Book Publishers Association's Gold and Platinum Book Prizes (1995; 1996; 1999; 2004), the Prime Minister's Prize twice (1996; 2007), the French WIZO Prize for Matisse Has the Sun in His Belly (2004) and the Culture Minister's Zionism Prize for Tzilla (2014). Her work has been translated in 11 languages.