Samih Al-Qasim was a critically acclaimed poet, essayist, and journalist. An outspoken advocate of Palestinian rights, he was imprisoned several times for his writing. He published numerous poetry collections, including Sadder Than Water: New and Selected Poems, the only other book-length English translation of his work.

`Abdulwahid Lu'lu'a is an Iraqi writer based in the United Kingdom, whose previous translations have won a range of literary prizes. He has published twelve books in Arabic and forty-two books in translation, all on literary subjects.