Etaf Rum is an author, professor, activist, and book club host raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her grandparents were displaced from their homes in Palestine in 1948 and raised their own children in a refugee camp. The family then immigrated to the US. Rum is the oldest of nine children and was raised in a conservative Palestinian household before entering an arranged marriage at 19. She and her husband moved to North Carolina, where she had two children and earned a BA in English language and literature, a BS in philosophy, and an MA in American and British literature and philosophy from North Carolina State University. She then obtained a position teaching literature at a local community college. Rum currently lives with her two children in North Carolina. She is a Book of the Month Club Ambassador and hosts a monthly book club. She is a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights and is involved in activism focused on increased awareness and opportunities for Palestinians and Palestinian Americans.

Both Evil Eye and Rum’s first novel, A Woman Is No Man, contain autobiographical elements. Like her female protagonists, Rum is an advocate for the rights of women in Arab American communities. Her novels explore the specific ways that she and other women in her community have experienced gender-based oppression and are interested in the question of how to balance respect for culture with the pursuit of educational and career goals.