Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse was born in Belarus and, together with her family, emigrated to the United States in 1989. She has translated the work of Dimitry Bortnikov, Sergey Gandlevsky, Ilya Brazhnikov, and Yuri Rytkheu. Educated at Vassar College, Oxford University, and University College London, she now lives in London with her husband and two goldfish.