Born and raised in Odessa, Ukraine, Robert Shin grew up surrounded by music, culture, and the harsh realities of Soviet-era discrimination. He completed his formal schooling along with music education and graduated from the pop department of a local music college — a foundation that shaped his melodic writing style and sharp emotional insight. Having personally experienced state-sponsored anti-Semitism, he carried with him stories etched in resilience and truth. In 1994, he immigrated to New York as a refugee, where he rebuilt his life from the ground up. Over the years, he explored various professions — even studying at FIT — before becoming a showman in 1995, a role that channeled his creativity and charisma. His writing journey began in childhood with poetry, later evolving into prose after friends encouraged him to transform his clear storytelling into written narratives. His poetry, music, and prose “all originate from the same head, but are born in different ways,” as he beautifully describes it — sometimes arriving in dreams, sometimes appearing magically the moment pen touches paper. Writing, for him, is not simply an art — it is an irresistible calling.