Solvej Balle was born in 1962 and made her debut in 1986 with Lyrefugl ( Lyrebird.) She went on to write one of the 1990s' most acclaimed works of Danish literature, Ifølge loven (According to the Law).

Barbara J. Haveland (b. 1951) is a Scottish literary translator, resident in Copenhagen. She has translated fiction, poetry and drama by many leading Danish and Norwegian writers, both classic and contemporary, including Henrik Ibsen, Peter Hoeg, Linn Ullmann and Carl Frode Tiller.