Joseph Ponthus (1978–2021) worked for over ten years as a social worker and special needs teacher in the suburbs of Paris. He was co-author of Nous … La Cité (The Suburbs Are Ours) and his masterpiece À la Ligne (On the Line) was published in France in 2019 to great acclaim. It won several literary prizes, including the Grand Prix RTL/Lire and the Prix Régine Deforges, and became a major bestseller.