Bae Suah was born in Seoul 1965, graduated from Ewha Women's University with a BA in Chemistry, and made her literary début in 1993 with the short story "The Dark Room of 1998?. She is one of the most highly acclaimed contemporary Korean authors, with over ten short story collections and five novels to her name. She received the Hanguk Ilbo literary prize in 2003, and the Tongseo literary prize in 2004. She lived in Germany for over a decade, and also translates literary works from German into Korean. English-language publications of her works include "His First Love,? published online by the Asia Literary Review, "Nowhere to be Found," published by Amazin Crossing, and "Highway with Green Apples,? published in Issue 1 of the electronic journal Day One.

Deborah Smith is studying for a PhD in contemporary Korean literature at SOAS (University of London). Her translation of The Vegetarian by Han Kang is forthcoming from Portobello. She has received translation grants from LTI Korea for Bae Suah's The Essayist's Desk, from English PEN for a sample of Hwang Sok-yong's Baridegi, and from the International Communication Foundation, Korea. She is on the steering committee for Korea Market Focus at London Book Fair 2014.