Judith Schalansky, born in Greifswald in 1980, lives in Berlin where she works as a writer, editor and book designer. Her work, which includes the internationally successful bestsellers "Atlas der abgelegenen Inseln" and the novel "Der Hals der Giraffe", has been translated into more than twenty languages and has won several prizes. She is the editor of a prestigious book series called ›Naturkunden‹ and lives as a freelance writer and book designer in Berlin.