Hester Velmans was born in Amsterdam, but lived in five different countries while growing up, before finally settling in the US. She is the author of the popular children’s books Isabel of the Whales and Jessaloup’s Song. The recipient of an NEA Translation Fellowship in 2014, she was previously awarded the Vondel Prize for her translation of Renate Dorrestein’s A Heart of Stone. Her most recent novel, Slipper, was published in April 2018.