Jaroslav Kalfař (Czech: [jaˈroˈslav kal̩ˈfar̝̊]) was born on May 20, 1988, in Prague, Bohemia, one year before the Velvet Revolution, and moved to the United States in 2003 at the age of fifteen. He spoke very little English at the time, and learned by watching Cartoon Network. He graduated from the University of Central Florida and then went on to earn an MFA from New York University. He was the recipient of the 2018 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, which granted him $25,000 in order for him to write, research, and travel.