Justin Van Heddegem (b. 1979, BE) is a former labourer, a former photographer and a soon-to-be former student of Slavic studies at Ghent University. As with everything in life, he has a love-hate relationship with the Dutch language, Bulgarian and Russian literature, and film. His passion for translation came late: in 2023, under the guidance of Hellen Kooijman, he collaborated on the translation of 8 minuten en 19 seconden by Georgi Gospodinov, and De weg van de slak by Alek Popov.