Born in Japan in 1951, Marou Izumo became involved in Japan's first lesbian-feminist group in 1977. A member of the all-women's theatre group Aoi Tori from 1979-1985 she published Manaita no ue no Koi (Love Upon the Chopping Board) in 1993. Her current writings include a regular column "Marou's Queer Report", and a forthcoming collection of cinema essays.

Born in Western Australia in 1968, Claire Maree now resides in Tokyo. Her poetry has been published in Poetry Australia and Common Lives/Lesbian Lives. Translation work includes fiction and non-fiction by writers such as Marou Izumo, Yumi Nihongi and Judith Butler.