Alistair MacLeod was a writer and academic, renowned for his work in short fiction. Born in Saskatchewan, MacLeod and his family moved to Nova Scotia when he was 10. His stories often centred on the lives of the working class in Cape Breton. Well into his writing career, he taught English and creative writing at the University of Windsor. He was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2008. MacLeod died in 2014 and while his body of work was small, it had a lasting impact in the literary world.

He launched his writing career in 1968, when he published a short story entitled The Boat. In 1976, he released his first collection of short stories The Lost Salt Gift of Blood, followed by Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories in 1986. Each contained 16 stories and took about 10 years to write. In 1989, he published a book of short stories called Island. His debut novel No Great Mischief was written over the course of 13 years and was published in 2000. The following year, he became the first Canadian to receive the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 2009, he won the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story. Remembrance, published 2012, was the final story MacLeod ever released.