Novelist and poet Lang Leav was born in a refugee camp after her family fled the Khmer Rouge. She grew up in Sydney, Australia, in the predominantly migrant town of Cabramatta. She is the internationally bestselling author of several books of poetry, including Love & Misadventure, the YA novel Sad Girls, and the adult novel Others Were Emeralds. Among her many achievements, Lang is the winner of a Qantas Spirit of Youth Award, the Churchill Fellowship, and Goodreads Reader's Choice Award. She lives in New Zealand.