Dorothy Koomson is an award-winning, global bestselling author of 22 novels. Her thrillers have connected with readers all over the world, with sales of over 2.5 million copies in the UK alone. Dorothy featured on the 2021 Powerlist as one of the most influential Black people in Britain, appeared in GQ Style as a Black British trailblazer, and was a judge for the 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her latest novel, Give Him To Me is published in paperback on 14th August 2025.

Sara Nisha Adams is an author and editor. She worked in publishing for eight years, at Rogers, Coleridge and White Literary Agency, Headline Publishing Group, Harvill Secker, Vintage and most recently as Editorial Director at Hodder & Stoughton, where she published authors across a range of genres. Her novels include The Twilight Garden and The Reading List, a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2021 and longlisted for the Diverse Book Awards 2022.

Shani Akilah is a Black-British Caribbean writer from London. She is the author of For Such a Time as This, which won Best Short-Story Collection at the 2024 Cosmopolitan Book Awards. She was a literary judge for the 2023 Nota Bene Prize and holds a Master’s in African Studies from Oxford University. Shani co-founded the Orange Room Collective and in 2024 had a library named in her honour in South London.

Célia is a poet and performer who brings words to life on stage through rhythm, emotion, and presence. Blending spoken word with jazz and cultural storytelling, she creates performances that move and connect audiences. A Swiss Slam Champion and international artist, her workshops focus on helping poets find their voice, embody their texts, and explore performance as a tool for deeper expression. Whether you're new to performing or curious to expand your skills, her sessions offer a welcoming and energizing space to grow.

Douglas Beer is a writer, filmmaker, artist, and teacher. He studied art and cinema in Geneva and at the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York. After early works in sculpture and installations - held in public and private collections - he turned to fiction filmmaking, writing and directing several shorts before his first feature, L’instant infini (The Infinite Moment). Born in Algiers, he holds British and Swiss citizenship and lives in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jason Donald was born in Scotland and grew up in South Africa. He studied English and Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews and received his MA in Creative Writing from Glasgow University. His debut novel, Choke Chain, was shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. Dalila, his second novel, was shortlisted for the Saltire Best Novel Award. Jason lectures in Creative Writing at City St. George’s University in London and is currently writing a memoir.

Michael Donkor studied English at Wadham College, Oxford and then undertook a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, London. The Observer named him as one of 2018's best debut authors for his first novel Hold (4th Estate) and in 2019, he was longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. His second novel Grow Where They Fall was published by Penguin in 2024. He has judged the Betty Trask Prize and regularly reviews for the Guardian and the i paper.

K. M. Elkes is an award-winning writer from the UK. He is the author of the short fiction collection All That Is Between Us (Ad Hoc Fiction). His flash fiction stories have won numerous international competitions, and his short stories have been longlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award and been finalists in the Manchester Fiction Prize, Bridport Prize, and the Royal Society of Literature Prize. His work has appeared in more than 60 literary journals and anthologies.

Rachel Hart is Editorial Director for commercial fiction at Wildfire, Headline, part of Hachette Book Group. She loves stories with a powerful hook that move genres on in exciting ways. She has previously worked in both large corporate publishers as well as indies at Head of Zeus, Welbeck and Avon. She has published Sunday Times, Amazon and Kindle UK/US bestsellers across a range of genres, as well as developing market-leading IP titles.

Marisa Linton is both a professor of history and a prize-winning novelist. She’s written several books about the leaders of the French Revolution.

In 2023, she won the Times/Chicken House competition with her eerie Young Adult fantasy, The Binding Spell, published May 2025. Marisa’s first adult novel, Circle of Shadows, is a dark academia historical tale about a young woman who becomes an occult detective. Publishing with Hodderscape, October 2025.

Eleanor 'Ellie' Pilcher is an award-winning Freelance Marketing Consultant with over ten years in the publishing industry. She is also a traditionally published author of commercial women's fiction, the co-host of publishing podcast Why You're Reading, a content creator on TikTok (@eleanorpilcher), and founder of the Substack newsletter Market Your Marketing, where she regularly offers insights and advice to writers and publishers in the industry.

Hannah Schofield is an award-winning literary agent who represents a broad list of commercial and book club fiction, with select YA and non-fiction. She loves big hooks, strong voices, pacy reads, and ‘all the feels’. With work experience in literary scouting and foreign rights, she always brings an international eye to her reading. Hannah also reckons she’s the only Luxembourgish literary agent – but she probably wouldn’t swear to it!

Janet Skeslien Charles is the New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of The Paris Library, Miss Morgan's Book Brigade, and The Parisian Chapter. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Sydney Morning Herald, and the anthology Montana Noir. Her novels have been translated into 40 languages. Originally from Montana, Janet lives in Paris. She loves connecting with readers at jskesliencharles.substack.com.

Susan Tiberghien founded the Geneva Writers' Group in 1993 and was a founding member of the International Writers' Residence at the Château de Lavigny . She has published two books on writing and four memoirs, including her latest, Seasons of Love, A Lasting Marriage. She has published numerous narrative essays in journals and anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic. Several of her titles have been translated into Swedish, Italian, Korean, and French. Tiberghien teaches and lectures in the States and in Europe.

Deborah Tomkins is a prize-winning author of eco-fiction. She founded Bristol Climate Writers in 2017.

Her literary science fiction novella Aerth was joint winner of the Weatherglass Inaugural Novella Prize, judged by Ali Smith (published January 2025 by Weatherglass Books). Her literary novel The Wilder Path won the 2024 Virginia Prize for Fiction (published May 2025 by Aurora Metro Books).

Deborah lives in Bristol, UK, with her family.