About the Author

Rachel Robbins received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a tenured assistant professor and department co-chair in English, Literature, and Speech at Malcolm X College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. A visual artist and two-time Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, her paintings have materialized on public transit, children’s daycare centers, and Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. She is the author of the illustrated poetry collection, In Lieu of Flowers, available from Tortoise Books. Her debut novel, The Sound of a Thousand Stars, was the first runner-up in the Chicago Reader's Best of Chicago 2024 for both Best New Novel Written by a Chicagoan and Best Novelist, and won the 2025 award for Literary Fiction in the Best Book Awards sponsored by the American Book Fest. She lives in Chicago with her husband, children, and Portuguese Water dog.