Adalbert Stifter (1805-1868) was born in the rural Bohemian market town of Oberplan, then part of the Austrian Empire but today in the Czech Republic. He published his first story in 1840, the success of which started him on a career as a writer and newspaper editor. His works include numerous stories and novellas, as well as Witiko, a historical novel, and Indian Summer, considered one of the finest examples of the German bildungsroman.

Isabel Fargo Cole is a writer and a translator of such authors as Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Franz Fühmann, Wolfgang Hilbig, and Klaus Hoffer. She lives in Berlin, Germany.