BASHKIM SHEHU is known for his essays "L'Automne de la peur" ("Autumn of Fear"), an account of the last months of the life of his father, Mehmet Shehu, the second-in-command in the communist regime during the years of Enver Hoxha. His position in favor of democracy earned him a lengthy imprisonment. Shehu now serves as a representative to the International Parliament of Writers and has lived in Barcelona, Spain since 1997 as part of the Asylum City program. His books have been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, and Catalan.
DIANA ALQI KRISTO was born and raised in Tirana, Albania. She worked as professor of text analysis, translation, and interpreting at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Tirana University for eighteen years. She now lives with her husband and two sons in Boston, Massachusetts and works as a freelance translator and interpreter for numerous international organizations.