Alex Skovron was born in Poland, lived briefly in Israel, and emigrated to Australia aged nearly ten. His family settled in Sydney, where he grew up and completed his studies. From the early 1970s he worked as an editor for book publishers in Sydney and (after 1980) Melbourne. His poetry has appeared widely in Australia and overseas, and he has received a number of major awards for his work. The most recent of his six poetry collections, Towards the Equator: New & Selected Poems (2014), was shortlisted in the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Alex’s collection of short stories, The Man who Took to his Bed, was published in 2017, with a Czech translation following in 2019. His novella, The Poet (2005), has also been translated into Czech under the title Básník (2014). The Attic, a selection of his poetry translated into French, was published in 2013; and a bilingual volume of Chinese translations, Water Music, appeared in 2017. The numerous public readings he has given have included appearances in China, Serbia, India, Ireland, Macedonia and Portugal.