Margaret Beissinger teaches in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University. Her research and writing focus on Romani traditional culture and music-making in southern Romania where she has undertaken extensive fieldwork among Romani musicians. She has authored numerous articles as well as the book The Art of the Lăutar: The Epic Tradition of Romania and is co-editor of Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World: The Poetics of Community and Manele in Romania: Cultural Expression and Social Meaning in Balkan Popular Music.