Maria Turtschaninoff was born in 1977 and has been writing fairy tales since she was five. She is the author of many books about magical worlds.

She has been awarded the Swedish YLE Literature Prize and has twice won the Society of Swedish Literature Prize. She has also been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Maresi is the first book in the three-part Red Abbey Chronicles, all of which will be published by Pushkin Press. Maresi is being published in eight languages and won the Finlandia Junior Prize.