Ljuba Merlina Bortolani was born in Bologna in November 1980. L'Assedio (The Siege) was composed between December 1995 and May 1996, when she was fifteen years old, and translated by Michael Parma (BOA Editions 2002). Her poems—both in the original Italian and in English translation—have appeared in a number of journals, including clanDestino, Chelsea, Gravida, Hebenon, Presages, and in Di molte/Il limite/L'umiltade (Campanotto, 1998), a volume devoted to the winners of that year's San Vito al Tagliamento Prize. Her poetry has also earned her the Iceberg Prize (1996), the Cara Belta Prize (1996), and the Lectura-Citta di Resana Prize (1997).