Claire Hajaj is the author of ISHMAEL'S ORANGES. She has spent the past 15 years working in international aid and conflict resolution for the United Nations, across war zones from Burma to Baghdad. She shares Palestinian and Jewish heritage, growing up between the deserts of the Middle East and the gardens of rural England. Claire’s writing has also appeared in Newsweek, The Sunday Times, New Statesman, The Telegraph, London Literary Review, as well as political institutions dedicated to peace. She has an MA in Classical and English Literature from Oxford University, and is a fellow of the UN Centre for Policy Research. She currently lives in Tajikistan.