Teacher, poet, writer, filmmaker, and scholar Sami Shalom Chetrit was born in Morocco, raised in Israel, and lives in New York City. He has been writing and publishing poetry for thirty years, with five books in Hebrew: a new book, Broken Times, is due out from Bimat Kedem (2014); this was preceded by Yehudim (Jews), from Nahar Books (2008). Chetrit's Shirim BeAshdodit (Poems in Ashdodian) became a bestseller in Israel where a popular musical, based on the poems, was produced. He has published countless poems in literary magazines, periodicals, newspapers, and anthologies, as well as several performing shows with leading Israeli musicians. There is a growing body of critical work on his poetry in both Hebrew and English and a generation of younger poets and artists have been inspired by his work. He was recently included in a list of the top 40 Modern Hebrew poets. Though a selection of his work appeared in Ammiel Alcalay's KEYS TO THE GARDEN, this is Chetrit's first full-length book of poetry in English.

Chetrit's novel Doll's Eye came out from Hargol Am Oved in 2007, and in English from Xlibris in 2013. His groundbreaking study, Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel: White Jews, Black Jews, was published by Routledge in 2011.

Producer and director of three documentary films, Chetrit's latest film, Shattered Rhymes: The Life and Poetry of Erez Bitton, depicts the renowned Moroccan born poet, an inspiration to Chetrit's generation. The film came out in January, 2014, appearing in festivals as well as broadcast on Israeli television, and is available in English.

Chetrit is Associate Professor of Hebrew and Middle Eastern Studies at Queens College, CUNY, and is on the faculty of Middle East/Middle East in America Studies at The Graduate Center, CUNY.