Maike Barth was born in Germany in 1966. She studied Scandinavian Languages and Literature in Kiel and in Stockholm. For many years she has been working as a publishing editor. 

In 2015 she began to work as a freelance translator, translating from Swedish, Danish and Norwegian into German. Among other authors, she has translated works by Peter Englund and Hans Rosling. She lives in the very north of Germany and is a member of the Association of German Language Translators of Literary and Scientific Works, VdÜ.