Sharon Dodua Otoo was born in London in 1972 and lives in Berlin. She is Black British, a mother, activist and author. She is also the editor of the English-language book series Witnessed in the edition assemblage. Her first novella the things i am thinking while smiling politely appeared in English in 2012 and in German in 2013, followed by Synchronicity, in German translation in 2014, and as the original story in English in 2015. She won the 2016 Ingeborg Bachmann Prize with the text Herr Gröttrup setzt sich hin.