Porochista Khakpour is an acclaimed novelist, essayist, and journalist, with roots as an Iranian refugee who escaped the tumult of the Iran-Iraq War and the Islamic Revolution. Raised in the Greater Los Angeles area, Khakpour moved to New York to pursue her education at Sarah Lawrence College. She later earned her Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins University.

Khakpour's literary debut, Sons and Other Flammable Objects, garnered significant praise and won the 2007 California Book Award in 'First Fiction'. Her other notable works include The Last Illusion and her memoir Sick, the latter of which has been recognized as a 'Most Anticipated Book of 2018' by various media outlets. Khakpour's essays have graced the pages of top publications such as The New York Times, Guernica, Los Angeles Times, Elle, and The Wall Street Journal, among many others.