Anja Snellman, formerly Kauranen, (b. 1954) is one of the most acclaimed Finnish authors of her generation. She rose to fame with her 1981 debut novel, Sonja O. Was Here. In many of her books, Snellman has dealt with the role of women, the awakening sexuality of teenage girls, as well as the gender-specific repression mechanisms of religious and ideological fundamentalism. She is the author of 23 novels and three collections of poetry. Her works have been translated into more than 20 languages.
Maija Mäkinen is a Finnish-born writer and translator. Her writings on place, belonging, and immigrant memories, along with her literary translations, have been featured or are forthcoming in Los Angeles Review, Scandinavian Review, Transnational Literature, anglistica AION, and publications in Finland. She is the winner of the American-Scandinavian Foundation's 2017 Nadia Christensen Prize in Translation, the University of Cambridge Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, and the Editor's Choice Award in Best New Writing, and recipient of the Kone Foundation's Saari Residency and Fellowship. Maija holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University and lives in Brooklyn.