Marina Sonkina was born in Moscow, Russia. She taught literature and linguistics at Moscow State University till she escaped - with two then small sons and two suitcases - the Soviet Union. It took her more than a decade to settle into English before she dared to brave its waters with pen in hand. She lived in Toronto and Montreal where she worked as a CBC producer and broadcaster, documentary film researcher and translator. She taught Humanities at Dawson and Vanier College in Montreal and now shares her time between teaching at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia as well as writing. She has published two collections of short stories and two children's books. Marina lives in Vancouver.