N=1 Heterotic string vacua from mirror symmetry

We review a systematic construction of $\cx N=1$ supersymmetric heterotic string vacua using mirror symmetry. The method provides a large class of explicit solutions for stable, holomorphic vector bundles on Calabi-Yau n-folds Z_n in terms of toric geometry. Phenomenologically interesting compactifications as well as non-perturbative dynamics of the heterotic string are discussed within this framework.