Lev AC Rosen was born on April 13th, and while he enjoys telling everyone it was a Friday, it was in fact, a Monday. He grew up on the lower west side of Manhattan, across the street from a building in which they made pasta sauce, so his memories of early mornings are always tinged with the smell of tomatoes.

He attended Oberlin College, in Ohio (Majors in Creative Writing and English), after which he ran as quickly as possible back to Manhattan, got his MFA in creative writing (fiction) from Sarah Lawrence College, and began his attempt at happily ever after, very far downtown, where the air smells like the ocean (which is much preferable to warm tomatoes).

During his short lifetime, Lev has studied with David Young, David Walker, David Hollander, and many people not named David including Mary LaChapelle, Ernesto Mestre-Reed, Paul Lisicky, Whitney Otto, Arnost Lustig, Brian Morton, Joan Silber, and his mentor who first told him to major in creative writing (and very possibly regrets it), Dan Chaon.

When he was 23, Lev’s short story Painting was the inaugural piece for the ‘New Voices’ section of the renowned Esopus magazine. Before the age of 30, he sold his first book, All Men of Genius, a steampunk novel inspired by both Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The novel follows Violet Adams as she disguises herself as her twin brother to gain entry to Victorian London’s most prestigious scientific academy, and once there, encounters blackmail, mystery, gender confusion, talking rabbits and killer automata. All Men of Genius will be released by Tor in spring of 2011.

Lev's interest with the unusual doesn't end with mad science. His Paganism and magical view of the world influences all his works, infusing his novel Chain-Link Fence, about seven people dealing with isolation, connection, and opera within New York City. However, Lev's New York City is one filled with magical realism, from prophetic dreams to exploding lightbulbs.

He has written several other novels, including a sequel to All Men of Genius, and another novel set in the magical New York of Chain-Link Fence.

All his books are quite brilliant, according to his mother.

Lev is currently represented in his literary works by Joy Tutela, of the David Black Literary Agency, who has legs that go all the way to the floor.