Natasza Goerke was born in Poznan in 1960. She studied Polish at Mickiewicz University in Poznan and Oriental Languages at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She has had four books published in Polish (her latest was nominated for the prestigious Nike Prize) and collections in German, Slovak, and Croatian translation. In addition, her stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies both in Poland and in the Polish emigre press as well as in translation, including The Eagle and the Crow (Serpent's Tail, 1996), an anthology of contemporary Polish literature. In the mid-80s she emigrated from Poland. After having lived for a time in Asia, she took up residence in Germany and now lives in Hamburg. In 1993 she received the Czas Kultury Prize, and in 1995 she was awarded a six-month stipendium at the highly regarded Akademie Schloss Solitude outside of Stuttgart. (from http://www.twistedspoon.com/goerke.html)