Yossi Avni-Levy is an Israeli writer and diplomat, born to an Afghan Jewish father and an Iranian Jewish mother. He graduated with honors from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in history of the Middle East and Arabic in 1983, earning a bachelor of laws (LLB) degree from the Faculty of Law in 1991. He has served in various positions in Israeli embassies in Berlin, Bonn, Belgrade, and Warsaw. Most recently, he was Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania. From 2011 until 2016, he was Ambassador to Serbia. Avni-Levy is the author of the books GARDEN OF THE DEAD TREES, FOUR SONS, A MAN WITHOUT SHADOW, ODE OF THE SINS and THREE DAYS IN SUMMER, the latter awarded both the Sapir and the Brenner Prizes in 2024. In 2008, he was awarded with the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works. He currently lives with his partner in Israel.