Brett Jocelyn Epstein is originally from Chicago, Illinois, lived in Helsingborg, Sweden, for 5.5 years, and in Swansea, Wales, for 3 years. She now lives in England, where she is a lecturer in literature and translation at the University of East Anglia. She also writes articles, educational material, and stories, translates, and copy edits. She previously taught English for many years and is the author of the textbook Ready, Set, Teach: Ready-Made, Creative Lessons for the English Classroom, which was published in the fall of 2005.

Dr. Epstein is also the editor of and a contributor to The Bryn Mawr College Cookbook, which was published in the fall of 2006. She is the editor of and a contributor to Northern Lights: Translation in the Nordic Countries, which was published in March 2009.

BJ was graduated from Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, with a BA in English and creative writing, and she received an MFA in fiction from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. BJ has also attended Swedish language and Swedish-English interpretation courses and education classes, as well as many creative writing workshops, festivals, and conferences, and she has independently studied a variety of languages.

She has a Ph.D. in translation studies from Swansea University, where she researched the translation of children's literature. Recent grants include ones from the Welsh Academi, the Karin and Hjalmar Tornblad Foundation Fund, and the Anglo-Swedish Literary Foundation, among others. Some of her interests beyond literature, writing, and language include anthropology and cooking.

BJ is a member of Sveriges Facköversättarförening (Swedish Association of Professional Translators), the Swedish-English Literary Translators’ Association, American Mensa, the British Comparative Literature Association, the International Board on Books for Young People (Sweden chapter), the Welsh Academi, and the International Research Society for Children's Literature.

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