Monika Zgustová was born in Prague and lives in Barcelona. She has published seven books, including novels, short stories, a play, and a biography. Her novel The Silent Woman (2005) was one of two runners-up for the National Award for the Novel, given by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Zgustová has also received the Giutat de Barcelona and the Mercè Rodoreda awards in Spain, and the Gratias Agist Prize given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague. She has translated more than fifty books of Russian and Czech fiction and poetry, including the works of Milan Kundera and Vaclav Havel, into both Spanish and Catalan.