Jana Egle (1963) is a poet and writer. Her collection of stories, Gaisma [Into the Light], won the 2017 Latvian Literature Award. Egle also sees songwriting as a great part of the literary tradition, and actively participates in the bard movement in Latvia. Her story ?The Quarry? was published in the February 2018 online issue of Words Without Borders. Birthday is her fourth book.

Uldis Balodis is a linguist, lecturer, and translator. He holds a PhD in linguistics and has a particular interest in endangered and lesser-spoken languages. His translations include Rudolfs Blaumanis's In the Shadows of Death (Paper + Ink, 2018) and Nakedness by Zigmunds Skujiņ? (Vagabond Voices, 2019), and contributions to Trillium (Livonian Culture Center & International Society of Livonian Friends, 2018)? the first-ever poetry anthology in English and Livonian, an endangered Finnic language native to Latvia.