Mariia Niskavaara is an author originally from Valkeakoski, Finland and knows what it is like to grow up in a small factory town. She is preparing a doctoral dissertation at the University of Turku on the aesthetics of meat, the body, and decay. Her debut novel Esther, the Butcher, has been published or is forthcoming in more than thirty countries worldwide.

Kate Sotejeff-Wilson midwifes texts for academics and the arts, translating from Finnish, Polish and German and editing in English. Born in Wales to an English father and a Polish mother, she is now also a Finn. She has been translating since 1999 and is happiest in the space between languages.