(Argentina, 1948) is a writer of non-fiction, a journalist and a bibliophile. He obtained international renown with Diary of a Reader, A History of Reading and The Library at Night. Manguel spent his early childhood in Tel Aviv where his father was ambassador. He spoke German and English there and only learnt Spanish on his return to Argentina at the age of seven. Nine years later the blind writer Jorge Luis Borges asked him to read for him and so he developed his great love for literature. Meanwhile he has collected over 30,000 books. Right before the Dirty War he left for Europe where he started a major oeuvre on world literature. He exchanged Europe for Canada and in 2000 together with his books moved to Poitou-Charentes in France. He won numerous prizes for his work, the prestigious French Prix Médicis, among others. www.alberto.manguel.com

(Brummen, NL, 1959 - Amsterdam, 2016) was a poet, journalist, and media presenter. At a young age he debuted as a poet in the Dutch literary magazine Hollands Maandblad. Since then he has published books of poetry quite regularly, such as Neem me mee zei de hond (Take Me With You Said the Dog, 2010). After the publication of his first collection Inslag (Impact, 1985), he began working as an interviewer for the VPRO broadcasting company. Later he became head producer of the Radio 6 programme "De Avonden." Since 2005  he talked to writers on VPRO's book programme "Boeken" on both TV and radio. He put together Briefgeheimen (Postcard Secrets, 2007), a colourful compilation of postcards linked to a website where people can divulge their deepest secrets. Overkomst dringend gewenst (Return Voyage Urgently Requested), his anthology of the work of poet Jan Emmens, was published in 2012, and his most recent poetry collection, 's Middags zwem ik in de Noordzee (In the Afternoons I Swim in the North Sea) in 2014. Brands was one of the "Lonely Departure" poets who compose and present a final poetic tribute to people who pass away without friends or family.