Christina E. Kramer, born in West Hartford, Connecticut, received her BA (1975) from Beloit College in Russian, Comparative Literature, and Modern Languages, and her MA (1979) and PhD (1983) in Slavic Linguistics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. After completing her PhD, Professor Kramer taught at Murray State University, moving to the University of Toronto in 1986, where she is now a professor of Slavic and Balkan linguistics. She is the author of numerous books on the Macedonian language and the Balkans and a translator of Macedonian literature.