Avi Garfinkel was born in Israel in 1972. He received a BA in law and general studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, then studied philosophy and literature at the University of Freiburg, Germany. He later completed his Ph.D in Hebrew literature at Bar-Ilan University. Garfinkel worked for a number of years as an editor and literary reviewer for
Haaretz, Ynet, Maariv and Israel TV, among others. He is now a lecturer and the director of the Shalem College Writing Center.