Gabrielle Alioth was born 1955 in Basel, Switzerland, and having studied economics (M.A.) and the history of art worked in econometric forecasting before emigrating to Ireland in 1984. Her first novel „Der Narr“ („The Fool“) was published in 1990. It received the Hamburg literary award for best first novel. Her seventh and most recent novel „The Bride from Byzantium“ appeared in 2008. She also writes children´s and travel books. Gabrielle does extensive reading tours in Europe, India, Canada and the United States. She was a member of the Irish delegation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1996 and member of the Swiss delegation in 1998. She was also Guest lecturer at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (1997) and at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, (2002); and Writer in Residence at University College Dublin (2005/6). Since 2004 she has been a lecturer at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. She lives in Julianstown, County Meath.

James Ryan is a native of Rathdowney, Co Laois and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. His postgraduate studies, also at Trinity, focused primarily on creative development. His first novel, Home from England, was published by Phoenix House, London in 1995. Dismantling Mr Doyle followed in 1997 and his third novel, Seeds of Doubt, was published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in 2001. South of the Border, his most recent novel was short-listed for the 2008 Kerry Group Literary prize.  He is a lecturer in the School of English, Drama and Film in UCD, currently directing the postgraduate programme in creative writing.

Rachel Billington worked in television in London and New York before taking up full-time writing. Her first novel All Things Nice is set in New York.
RB has written nineteen adult novels, four childrens’ novels, five religious books for children and three non-fiction books. Her latest novel is Lies & Loyalties published in 2008. RB has also written and continues to write journalism for newspapers both in the UK and the US, including a three year stint as a columnist for The Sunday Telegraph.
RB was President of English PEN, the writers organisation from 1998-2001 and remains a Vice-president. During her time as President RB initiated PEN’s Readers & Writers Programme which sends books and writers to meet readers in schools and prisons. RB is a Trustee of the Longford Trust which was set up in memory of her father, Lord Longford. In 1991 RB became a member of the editorial team of Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners.

Timothy Taylor is an award winning novelist and journalist. His novels – Stanley Park (2001) and Story House (2006) – were national bestsellers and he has received nominations for numerous literary prizes including the Giller Prize, the Writers Trust Fiction Prize, and both the Vancouver and British Columbia Book Awards. His short story collection Silent Cruise (2002) earned him the Journey Prize and second place in the Danuta Gleed Award, given to the best collection of stories published in Canada in a given year. Taylor is also the winner of three National Magazine Awards. He lives in Vancouver where he splits his time between fiction, writing for screen and journalism. He’s a contributing editor at enRoute Magazine and Vancouver Magazine, and a columnist for the Globe and Mail.

Timothy Taylor is an award winning novelist and journalist. His novels – Stanley Park (2001) and Story House (2006) – were national bestsellers and he has received nominations for numerous literary prizes including the Giller Prize, the Writers Trust Fiction Prize, and both the Vancouver and British Columbia Book Awards. His short story collection Silent Cruise (2002) earned him the Journey Prize and second place in the Danuta Gleed Award, given to the best collection of stories published in Canada in a given year. Taylor is also the winner of three National Magazine Awards. He lives in Vancouver where he splits his time between fiction, writing for screen and journalism. He’s a contributing editor at enRoute Magazine and Vancouver Magazine, and a columnist for the Globe and Mail.