Akira Otani was born in Tokyo in 1981. Beginning her career writing for video games, she made her literary debut with the short story collection Nobody Said We're Perfect, an exploration of relationships between women. An out lesbian, she is the author of the essay collection Since You're So Curious About My Body and the forthcoming novel Rurika, Born 2019, Turns 50. The Night of Baba Yaga is her first book to be translated into English.
