Uma Krishnaswami was born in New Delhi, India, and spent her childhood moving to different places in India, and reading stories from European authors. After moving to America and living in Maryland and New Mexico, she began writing children’s books set in both India and North America, wanting to provide more books about places outside of the West for children. She now teaches at the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, VT and lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.