Peter Høeg was born in 1957 and followed various callings - dancer, actor, fencer, sailor, mountaineer - before he turned seriously to writing. He published his first novel, The History of Danish Dreams, in 1988, and was called 'the foremost writer of his generation' by Information magazine. His crime novel Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow received universal acclaim and was an international bestseller.

Martin Aitken's translations of Scandinavian literature number some 30 books. He was shortlisted for the International DUBLIN Literary Award in 2017, was a finalist at the US National Book Awards in 2018 and received the PEN America Translation Prize in 2019. He lives in Denmark.