Rutu Modan is one of the members of the Israeli comics group Actus Tragicus, together with Itzik Rennert, Mira Friedmann, Batia Kolton and Yirmi Pinkus. She is a well-known comic artist and illustrator. Shortly after graduating from the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem, she began to edit the Israeli edition of MAD magazine with Yirmi Pinkus. Together, they founded the Actus Tragicus comics group in 1995. Modan received the Young Artist of the Year award in 1997, and is the author of the novellas 'The Somnambulist', 'King of the Lilies', 'The Romanian circus' and 'Bygone'.