Anne Milano Appel, a former library director and language teacher, has been translating professionally for more than ten years. She is active in both ALTA and ATA and a member of PEN. Several of her book-length translations have been published, and shorter works that she has authored or translated have appeared in other professional and literary venues. Her translation of Stefano Bortolussi's novel Head Above Water was the winner of the 2004 Northern California Book Award for Translation.