Allard Schröder (b. 1946) has written many novels, short stories and radio plays since the 1980s. His breakthrough came with The Hydrographer, an astonishing novel in which the laws of the sea are reflected in those of love. It won the author the AKO Literature Prize in 2002 and was translated into several languages. In September it will be published in Germany by Mare Verlag. Schröder has since written further novels and a volume of poetry. The novel The Dead Arm (2013) was shortlisted for the AKO Literature Prize.