Leah Lax was raised in a Jewish family in Dallas, Texas, close to a generation of immigrants, so that, growing up, she learned both to crochet and ride a horse. Then she joined the hasidim and spent thirty years among them attempting to reclaim the roots her family had left behind. Now on the other side of all that and grateful for second chances, she has published award-winning fiction, nonfiction and prose poetry.
“When Leah Lax was asked to write an opera with composer Christopher Theofanidis to celebrate local immigrants, she sought out people willing to tell her about their journeys to the United States. The result was transformative. It was if she had discovered America, found its great, beating heart. Lax has had a dual career as an author and a librettist. Her previous book—now an opera by composer Lori Laitman—is Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home, the first gay memoir to come out of the Jewish ultra-Orthodox world. Learn More
