Debut novelists Hala Alyan, Hannah Lillith Assadi, and Jimin Han discuss writing first novels and the interplay between art and identity. Hala Alyan (pictured) was born in 1986. After living in various parts of the Middle East, she completed a doctorate in psychology and is now in practice at New York University. She has been published in Guernica and other literary journals, and is the award-winning author of three poetry collections. Alyan is also a seasoned performer, and her TEDx talk and appearances can be viewed at www.halaalyan.com. She lives in New York City. Hannah Lillith Assadi received her MFA in fiction from the Columbia University School of the Arts. She also received her bachelor's at Columbia where she was awarded the Philolexian Prize for her fiction and poetry. She was raised in Arizona and lives in Brooklyn. Sonora is her first novel. Jimin Han was born in Seoul, Korea and grew up in New York, Rhode Island, and Ohio. She attended Cornell University as an undergraduate and earned an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Her writing can be found at NPR's "Weekend America," Entropy, The Rumpus, HTMLGiant, The Good Men Project, Hyphen Magazine, Kartika Review, KoreanAmericanStory.com, The eChook Memoir app, Bloom, and The Nuyorasian Anthology.
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