‘A delightful book, open at any page and find yourself transported into the garden and surrounded by butterflies, blackbirds, roses, and buddleja. Aaaand, breathe.’

Miki Sakamoto was born in 1950 in Kagoshima, Japan. She studied classical Japanese and Chinese literature in Tokyo and cultural anthropology (MA) in Munich, where she has lived since 1974. When living in Japan, she wrote for several newspapers. Alongside Japanese haikus and German poetry, she has authored works about Munich (Münchener Freiheit - Munich Freedom) and her grandmother (Die Kirschblütenreise - The Cherry Blossom Journey). Most recently she has written the poetic companion books Eintauchen in den Wald (Immersing Yourself in the Forest) (Hanserblau, 2019) and Zen und das Glück, im Garten zu arbeiten (publishing in English as Zen in the Garden) (Aufbau, 2021). Last year Lichtwechsel (Changes in the Light), a volume of her poetry and nature writing, was published in German and Japanese (Weissbooks, 2021). She lives near Munich with her husband, the biologist and bestselling author Josef H. Reichholf.

Catherine Venner is a translator from German. She gained a B.A. from the University of Durham and a master’s from Europa Universität Viadrina. Her translations have been published in World Literature Today, No Man’s Land, and the Brixton Review of Books. She lives in North East England and enjoys gardening.