Laura Starink (The Netherlands, 1954) studied Slavic languages and has worked as a journalist for 30 years. She is a journalist at NRC Handelsblad, and a correspondent in Russia and Ukraine. She wrote two books about Russia: Een land van horen zeggen and De Russische kater. Her book Duitse wortels, on the fate of her mother and aunts during and after the Second World War, was nominated for de Bob den Uylprijs 2014.