The Strange Scent of Saffron

Originally from Carleton-sur-Mer in the Gaspésie, Miléna Babin has lived in Quebec City for the past ten years. In her books, she likes to give life to impulsive and imperfect characters who are often hounded by darkness and suffering, but who find the courage to move toward the light. Exploring the balance between shadow and light is what drives her writing. Her work has been featured in several anthologies, and she has published the novel Les fantômes fument en cachette (Éditions XYZ, 2014) and the children's book Évelyne, l'enfant-placard (Québec Amérique, 2019). Her second novel, L'étrange odeur du safran (Éditions XYZ, 2018), was shortlisted for the Prix France-Québec 2019. She has also worked as a screenwriter in recent years and is currently adapting L'étrange odeur du safran into a film.

Oana Avasilichioaei is a poet, translator, and sound artist based in Montreal. She has translated many books of poetry and prose from French and Romanian, including Bertrand Laverdure's Readopolis (Book*hug 2017, Governor General Literary Award) and Catherine Lalonde's The Faerie Devouring (Book*hug 2018, QWF's Cole Foundation Prize for Translation).