Ania Poranek grew up in Ontario, Canada but spent her summers in the Polish countryside, raiding her grandfather’s library and helping care for his chickens. Her love of animals led her to pursue a degree in Veterinary Medicine, though she never stopped writing along the way. She now lives in Versailles, France, where she spends her free time doodling and wrangling her void demon (read: cat), Neptune.

Her first novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, is an ode to Poland’s wild woodlands, wilder folktales, and the girls who were raised by them.