Abdourahman Waberi is a major writer from the African nation of Djibouti. An essayist, novelist, teacher, poet and short story writer, Waberi is partially based in France and has been named one of the 50 Writers of the Future by the French literary mag Lire. Most of his works were originally published in French

Anatoly (Anthony) Kudryavitsky was born in 1954 in Moscow of a Polish father and half-Irish mother. He lives in Co. Dublin and writes in both English and Russian. His poems and short stories have been translated into eleven languages. He was the recipient of a number of literary awards.

Anne Fine has written highly acclaimed novels for adults and is also one of Britain’s most prestigious writers for children, having twice won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award. In 2003 she was awarded an OBE for her contribution to literature. Her work has been translated into thirty five languages.

Eve Patten is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, where she specialises in Irish writing and in the nineteenth and twentieth-century novel. She has published widely on contemporary British and Irish fiction .She regularly reviews new fiction for the Irish Times and is an essayist for the British Council’s Contemporary Writers series. She was awarded Fellowship of Trinity College in 2005.

Zoë Wicomb is a South African writer. Her critical work focuses on South African writing and culture. Her fiction includes You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, David’s Story, Playing in the Light, short stories in various collections, and her latest novel, The One that Got Away. She is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.