Yūko Tsushima (1947-2016) is considered one of the most important Japanese writers of her generation. She is best known for her novel Mountain of Fire and her short-story collection The Shooting Gallery. Much of her work is influenced by the oral epics and tales of pre-modern Japan, as well as her own experience as a single mother. Her father was the famous Japanese writer Osamu Dazai, who committed suicide when Tsushima was only a year old. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages.

Geraldine Harcourt (1952-2019) was a translator of modern Japanese literature. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Harcourt lived in Japan for much of her life. There, she developed a close working relationship with Tsushima and translated five works by the author, including Territory of Light and The Shooting Gallery.

Lauren Groff is the author of the novels Arcadia, The Monsters of Templeton, and Fates and Furies, and two short story collections, Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She is a two-time National Book Award nominee and was a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.