Marcelijus Martinaitis is a poet, essayist, and translator. He is a major poet and is well known in Lithuania as a public figure in the fight for the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania since 1988. Martinaitis has published ten collections of poetry, including his most popular collection, The Ballads of Kukuti and two collections of essays. Laima Vince is a poet, writer, and translator. She teaches at the University of South Maine and directs the Stonecoast Summer Writer's Conference. She has translated both poetry and prose from Lithuanian, including The Earth Remains: An Anthology of Contemporary Lithuanian Prose. She is currently a Fulbright lecturer in Lithuania.