born in Zestafoni, now Georgia, in 1965 as Grigori Chkhartishvili. He has been publishing historical crime novels under his pseudonym since 1998 and quickly became one of the most widely read authors in Russia. His books have been translated into more than forty languages. As an opponent of the current
Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul in 1982. She grew up in Syria and Karachi with her father, who lived in exile during the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq. Fatima Bhutto is the granddaughter of former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and niece of Benazir Bhutto. During their terms
Xiaolu Guo was born in 1973 and grew up in southern China. She studied at the Film Academy of Beijing and the National Film and Television School in London. As a prizewinning, but censorship-restricted writer of screenplays, she initially published several acclaimed and widely translated novels. In 2002, Guo moved
Will Self was born in 1961 in London. From age 10, he was an avid reader of science fiction (Frank Herbert, J. G. Ballard, and Philip K. Dick). At Exeter College, Oxford, he studied philosophy, politics, and economics and was the editor of a left-wing student paper. He later worked as
William Sutcliffe was born in London in 1971. From the age of 16, after reading Ian McEwan’s novel »The Cement Garden« (1978), he began to feel that he wanted to be a writer. Sutcliffe studied English at Cambridge and penned a number of scripts for the Footlights Dramatic Club from
Vikram Seth was born in Calcutta in 1952 and grew up in India and London. His mother was the first female Chief of Justice of a state High Court and also enjoyed success as a writer with her autobiography. After completing his studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford,
is a stylist, author, and model. They completed a course in makeup after their studies at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Based on their understanding of the portrayal of different people in art and media, they ascribes a special responsibility to stylists. Umber works as a stylist for theater, film,
Tom Rachman was born in London in 1974 and grew up in Vancouver. Following film studies at the University of Toronto he received a master in journalism at Columbia University in New York. He subsequently served as a foreign correspondent for Associated Press in Rome, also reporting from such locations
Tom Raworth was born in London in 1938. His sixth birthday, he says, he spent making mice of candle wax in an air-raid shelter. After breaking off his schooling in 1954 he managed to get through by means of odd jobs. In 1970 he got an MA after completing his
The poet, critic and lecturer Tim Liardet was born in London. He studied at the University of York in northern England and currently is Senior Lecturer in Creative Studies at Bath Spa University in the south. To date he has published five volumes and one pamphlet of poetry, as well
Tim Parks was born in Manchester in 1954, grew up in London and studied at Cambridge and Harvard. In 1981 he moved to Italy where he has lived ever since, teaching literary translation at the University of Milan. Parks has published over fifteen novels, numerous essays, short stories and academic
