Kathrin Hartmann, born in 1972, studied art history, philosophy and Scandinavian studies. After having trained as a journalist with the Frankfurter Rundschau she became one of the newspaper's editors for news and politics. Between 2006 and 2009 she was an editor for Neon. Her previous books have been highly acclaimed. She contributes regularly to Süddeutsche Zeitung, Freitag and Frankfurter Rundschau.