(Belgium, 1971) is an author, historian and archaeologist, known for his multifaceted contributions to literature and intellectual discourse. He is currently Philosopher Laureate of the Low Countries. Upon his appointment, he published De wereld en de aarde (The World and the Earth, 2025), in which he makes a groundbreaking proposal to radically broaden our thinking—and our politics. For the greatest security issue of our time is not the world with its mutual conflicts, but the earth, which is becoming increasingly disrupted. His oeuvre covers a range of genres, including historical non-fiction, poetry, and theater. Among his best-known works are Congo (2010), about the country's bewildering history, and Revolusi (2020), which places Indonesia's struggle for independence in a global perspective through eyewitness accounts. In addition to his literary work, Van Reybrouck is known as ‘one of Europe's leading intellectuals’ (Tagesspiegel), whose ideas relate to themes such as democracy, climate, and colonialism. He regularly publishes opinion pieces in international publications. 

Go to the website of David Van Reybrouck
Instagram: @david.vanreybrouck

was born in Nigeria. He worked as a lecturer and journalist in Nigeria before he moved to England to become the African Writing Fellow at the University of East Anglia. In 2002 he published his first novel, Waiting for an Angel. His writing has won many prizes including the Caine Prize, 2001, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, 2003. In 2005/2006 he became the Chinua Achebe Fellow at Bard College, New York.
In 2006 he co-edited the British Council's anthology, New Writing 14. His second novel, Measuring Time, was published in 2007, it won the Virginia Library Foundation Fiction Award, 2008. His third novel, Oil on Water, was published in the US in 2011. His anthology, The Granta Book of the African Short Story came out in September, 2011. Habila teaches Creative Writing at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where he lives with his wife and three children.

(Zimbabwe, 1971) debuted in 2009 with the short-story collection An Elegy for Easterly, followed by her first novel The Book of Memory (2015) and another story collection, Rotten Row (2016). Her new book Out of Darkness, Shining Light tells the story of the perilous, months-long trek made in 1873 by 69 workers to transport the body of the explorer David Livinstone from central Africa to the Zanzibar coast, so it could eventually be buried in England. "I write the history of the black people of Zimbabwe, those about whom nobody ever speaks." Gappah studied law in Zimbabwe and Cambridge, worked as a lawyer, and lives in Berlin as artist-in-residence. She has won many international prizes for her work.

(Iraq, 1971) fled his country in 1998 after completing architecture studies, was given asylum in the Netherlands and settled there legally in 2007. Since then he has published poetry, novels and collections of his columns. He received the 2000 El Hizjra literature award and the 2011 Literature Prize of the European Union. In 2013 he published Liever niet, antwoordt de liefde (Maybe Not, Was Love's Reply), an anthology of refreshing love poetry. His novel Hoe ik talent voor het leven kreeg (Two Blankets, Three Sheets) tells of his experiences as an asylum seeker in the Netherlands. Al Galidi published the short story collection Duizend-en-een-nachtmerries (A Thousand and One Nightmares) in 2017 and a poem collection Neem de titel serieus (Take the title seriously) in 2018.

(Sint Maarten, 1980) was first introduced to Contemporary Poetry in Atlanta by friends and found it to be very captivating. "The first poet that got me into the “field” was the Lady Herself -Jill Scott. This was during the fall of 2000. I then began looking at HBO’S “DEF Poetry Jam” where many street/underground poets performed fearlessly on stage. I then began writing my own poetry in 2004, as a means of releasing thoughts that were heavy on my mind. I began performing with Local Groups on St. Maarten and did various shows and presentations My style of poetry is mostly introspective, and very expressive, as I often delve into my own soul for answers to the questions of life."

also known as “Stretch R.” was born on the island of Jamaica in the capital Kingston. At the age of 11 he moved to St.Maarten and that’s where his interest in music grew even more. He wrote his 1st song at 14years old in high school and has been writing his own music and poetry ever since then. He states that his inspiration comes from all around him, things he see, hear and speak about. Poetry was a fairly new to him and at the age of 23 he started writing more and more of it. In 2008 he was introduced to the annually poetry event “Summer Speaks” and “Winter Words” where he recited some of his work. He has also been seen at other summer speaks and winter words events from 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2011 at the summer speaks event he released his debut cd entitle “Music N Poetry”. He has also been seen at the “boos” concert for breast cancer awareness in 2011.

Born in the U.S. and raised in Canada, Marianne Tefft is a magazine writer, editor and Montessori teacher who, after 10 years in Sint Maarten, now has only an indistinct memory of shovelling snow.