Hannah Lillith Assadi

Hannah Lillith Assadi (born 1986) is an American novelist. She is the author of Sonora, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells (2022), and Paradiso 17 (2026).

Early life and education Assadi was born to a Jewish mother and a Palestinian father. Her father (1943-2022) was born in Safed and fled with his family during the Nakba, living first in Syria and later in Kuwait. He later studied in Perugia, Italy, before moving to New York City, where he worked in the shipping industry and as a taxi driver. The couple met in Tribeca in the 1983, and married the following year.

Assadi was born in New York City, and the family moved to Arizona when she was five.

Assadi attended Columbia University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern studies and a master's degree in creative writing.

Assadi's debut novel, Sonora, started as an assignment for her master's degree. and was a finalist for the PEN/ Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction. It was also positively received by Huffpost, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly. In 2018, she was named a National Book Foundation '5 Under 35' honoree.

Her second novel, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells, was named a best book of 2022 by The New Yorker and NPR, and was received positively by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Vanity Fair and The Washington Post. She teaches fiction at the Columbia University School of the Arts and the Pratt Institute.

Her third novel, Paradiso 17 was longlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize.

Personal life Assadi moved to New York City in the mid 2000s, She is married and has two children. She has said she is spiritual, but is neither Jewish nor Muslim, as "religion doesn't speak to her".