Leïla Slimani is the bestselling author of Lullaby, one of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2018, for which she became the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Goncourt. Her other books include Adèle, Sex and Lies, and the #1 international bestsellers The Country of Others and Watch Us Dance, which are the first and second parts of a trilogy of novels based on her family’s roots in revolutionary Morocco. Until recently she was French president Emmanuel Macron's personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture, and is the chair of the jury for the 2023 International Booker Prize. She was ranked #2 on Vanity Fair France's annual list of the Fifty Most Influential French People in the World. Born in Rabat, Morocco, in 1981, she divides her time between France and Portugal.

On medical grounds, Leïla Slimani is sadly no longer able to appear at Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki.