Louise Steinman is a writer, artist, and independent curator. She is the author of three books: The Crooked Mirror: A Memoir of Polish-Jewish Reconciliation; The Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father’s War, and The Knowing Body: The Artist as Storyteller in Contemporary Performance. Her essays have been widely published in U.S. and abroad, most recently her chronicle “The Questions We Ask” in A History for the Future: The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles 1979-2000. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships (Chora Prize; NEA Artist Fellowship) and artist residencies. She founded and was the longtime curator of the ALOUD literary and performance series for the Los Angeles Public Library. She is co-director of the Los Angeles Institute for Humanities, USC. Photo credit: Lloyd Hamrol.