Maja Haderlap (1961) was born in Železna Kapla/Bad Eisenkappel in Carinthia, Austria. She graduated in theatre studies and German at the University of Vienna. For a number of years she was co-editor of the Carinthian Slovene literary magazine Mladje. After theatre assistantships in Trieste and Ljubljana, she was head of dramaturgy at the Klagenfurt Civic Theatre for a decade and a half. She also lectured at Klagenfurt University. She now lives in Klagenfurt as a freelance writer. Her poems were first published in Slovene literary magazines. In 1983 she published her first poetry collection Žalik pesmi (Salige Gedichte) (Drava, ZTT), followed in 1987 by the collection Bajalice (Wünschelruten) (Drava, ZTT). In 1998 her extensive collection Gedichte Pesmi Poems (Drava) was published, containing also poems written in German for the first time. Her 2011 novel Engel des Vergessens (Angel of Oblivion) (Wallstein, 2011) brought her important literary awards including the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, in 2014 she published the poetry collection langer transit (distant transit) (Wallstein), and in 2023 her novel Nachtfrauen (Night Women) (Suhrkamp, 2013).