Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) was born Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto in Parral, Chile. He started publishing his poems in 1920, taking the pen name of Pablo Neruda, after his heroes Paul Verlaine and Czech poet Jan Neruda. He spent much of his adult life either in exile or in diplomatic posts under favourable Chilean governments. Philippe Noiret played him in the film "Il Postino", set in Italy during his exile there. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971. He was close to President Salvador Allende, but in hospital with cancer at the time of the coup d'etat led by Augusto Pinochet. His funeral a fortnight later became the first public protest against the Chilean military dictatorship.
Forrest Gander is a translator, cross-genre writer, and former professor at Brown University. He is the recipient of numerous awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize, the Best Translated Book Award, and fellowships from the Library of Congress, the Guggenheim, and United States Artists Foundations.