Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born to Jewish parents in Prague and wrote in German. He published only a few story collections and individual stories in literary magazines during
his lifetime. The rest of his work was published posthumously. He is now considered one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century.

Alexander Starritt is the author of the novels The Beast and We Germans. He is the winner of the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and has been shortlisted for the Prix Femina and Prix Médicis, among others. His translations of A Chess Story by Stefan Zweig and Late Fame by Arthur Schnitzler are also published by Pushkin Press.