Kiyoshi Shigematsu was born in 1963 in Okayama Prefecture. After studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, he began a career as an editorial writer. His literary work has been honored with four major prizes, including the prestigious Naoki Prize in 2000. The Blanket Cats was adapted for TV in 2017, and he contributed to the storyline of the Lost Odyssey video game.
Jesse Kirkwood is a literary translator working from Japanese into English. The recipient of the 2020 Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize, his translations include The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto, The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, and A Perfect Day to Be Alone by Nanae Aoyama.
