Rachel Astarte Piccione was born in 1969 in DeKalb, Illinois and raised
in Upstate New York. She is the daughter of theater director/playwright
Sandi Henschel and poet Anthony Piccione (Anchor Dragging, For the
Kingdom, The Guests at the Gate).
Primarily a screenwriter and journalist, Rachel was also the 1996 Poet
Laureate of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She holds a Masters of Fine
Arts degree in Screenwriting from Emerson College in Boston and has
studied acting at Loughborough University (UK) and the American Academy
of Dramatic Arts in New York.
Rachel's work centers on the promotion of cultural unity through
cinema, with a focus on the Indian film industry. She is also active in
Middle East peace work. She has given numerous readings across the
country, and lectured at such venues as New York City's New School on
the topic of employing the arts as a means toward conflict resolution.
