Award-winning Egyptian novelist Mohamed Mansi Qandil was born in the Nile delta. He went to medical school and worked as a country doctor before beginning to write fiction. He has published several novels, short-story collections, and children's books, and now lives in Canada.

Barbara Romaine has translated a number of novels by Radwa Ashour, as well as Bahaa' Taher's Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery. In 2011, her translation of Spectres was runner-up for the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize. She has taught Arabic at several universities for over twenty years.