Diane Lefer is an author, playwright, and social justice activist. Her fiction includes three story collections: The Circles I Move In, Very Much Like Desire, and California Transit (Mary McCarthy Award), and five novels: Radiant Hunger (shortlisted for PEN USA West Award in Fiction), Nobody Wakes Up Pretty, The Fiery Alphabet (a Small Press Pick), Confessions of a Carnivore (inspired by her relationship with a baboon at the LA Zoo), and Out of Place. Among her works for the stage, Nightwind, created with her longtime collaborator Hector Aristizábal, toured the U.S. and dozens of countries around the world. Their co-authored book, The Blessing Next to the Wound: A story of art, activism and transformation, was recommended by Amnesty International.
Diane’s advocacy journalism focused on the criminal in/justice system and immigration. She’s served as a bilingual (English/Spanish) interpreter for immigrants held in detention centers in Los Angeles County and stuck in Tijuana at the border. She has worked with boys in juvie and lifers on parole, and has registered eligible voters in the LA County Jails. Diane works with the Program for Torture Victims-LA which, since 1980, has treated physical and psychological wounds as survivors begin to rebuild their lives.
Portrait by Ilana Segall
