Bernardo Atxaga (born 1950) is considered to be the finest Basque writer of his generation. He has written novels, short stories, song lyrics, plays and children’s literature. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and his work in euskera (Basque) and in translation has brought him many prizes, including the Premio Nacional de Narrativa, the Premio Euskadi, the Premio de la Crítica, the Prix Millepages, the Premio Valle-Inclán, and the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation.
Margaret Jull Costa has translated the works of many Spanish and Portuguese writers and won many prizes. In 2013, she was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and, in 2014, was awarded an OBE for services to literature. In 2018, she was awarded the Ordem Infante D. Henrique by the Portuguese government.