was born in the Mojave Desert, California, into a family running an eighteen-room motel. Immersed in an environment of fantasy novels, comic books, and music, her affinity for literature took root early on. Her educational journey led her to a career as a newspaper editor where she worked night shifts,
was born in 1968, in Herat. There he received his primary education at Amir Dost Mohammad Khan High School and continued at Habibie High School in Kabul. In 1984, Herawi started his higher education at the Faculty of Language and Literature of Kabul University. A scholarship led him to Stavropol
born in 1985 in Guben, studied history at the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London. Hoyer is a Global Opinions columnist for »The Washington Post« and regularly contributes to British newspapers such as »The Spectator«,
was born in 1980 in Trinidad and Tobago, where she grew up. She published her literary debut novel »When We Were Birds« in 2023, which was honored as the winner of the 2023 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award. In addition to
Elle McNicoll was born in 1992 in Scotland, where she grew up before moving to England to complete her Master studies at University College London. She stepped into the literary landscape with her debut novel, »A Kind of Spark« (2020), a critically acclaimed exploration of neurodiversity that won the Blue
Thomas Weber, born in 1974 in Hagen, Germany, is a distinguished Professor of History & International Affairs at the University of Aberdeen, a position he has held since 2013. His scholarly path led him from the University of Münster to an MSt and DPhil in Modern History from the University
Manjeet Mann was born in the West Midlands, England. An accomplished actress, author, playwright, and screenwriter, she is particularly notable for her significant contribution to Young Adult (YA) literature. Her education and early career in theatre cultivated a unique storytelling approach which permeates her novels, making her work exceptional and
born in 1979 in Tirana, Albania, studied literature and philosophy at the Sapienza in Rome. She is a professor of political theory at the London School of Economics and regularly contributes to the »Guardian« on sociopolitical issues. In 2021, she published her memoir »Free: Coming of Age at the End
Abdulrazak Gurnah was born in Zanzibar [now Tanzania] in 1948. He went to Great Britain at the age of eighteen after the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964. He first studied at Christ Church College in Canterbury and then at the University of Kent, where he earned his doctorate in 1982 with
Laura Carlin was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1980. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2004 and has since worked as an illustrator and ceramicist. She has illustrated numerous children’s and young adult books, for which she primarily uses watercolors, acrylics, and colored pencils. In »The Promise«
Jay Bernard was born in the London Borough of Croydon in 1988. They appeared at BFI Flare and the London LGBTQ film festival as a film programmer and also worked at the research library and archive of the Statewatch civil liberties agency. Jay Bernard’s first collection of poems »Surge« [2019]
Hana Tooke was born in Alkmaar, Holland in 1985 and moved to England in the late 90s. A singer-songwriter since the age of twelve, she graduated from Plymouth University with a degree in music performance. She wrote her first fairy tale for her bachelor thesis. She earned her master’s degree
