Burhan Sönmez is the author of five novels, which have been published in more than thirty languages. He was born in Turkey and grew up speaking Turkish and Kurdish. He worked as a lawyer in Istanbul before going into political exile in Britain. Sönmez's writing has appeared in such publications as The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, and La Repubblica. His previous novel, Labyrinth, was published by Other Press in 2019. He was elected President of PEN International in 2021.

Alexander Dawe has translated several contemporary Turkish novels and screenplays. In collaboration with Maureen Freely he has translated A Useless Man: Selected Stories by Sait Faik Abasiyanik; The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, which received the MLA Lois Roth Award; and Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali. He lives and works in Istanbul.