(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.

(Iraq, 1975) has played guitar and oud since childhood and grew up with Kurdish music. He studied music in Baghdad. In Jordan, he taught at a music school. He played in the band 'Al-Nagam-Alasil, which performed regularly at festivals in Amman and Zerkah. In the Netherlands, he has performed at festivals and venues including Rasa, Paradiso, the Dunya festival and the Global Village festival and on Radio 4 & 6.

is founder and director of Jurgen Maas Publishers in Amsterdam, which focuses on Dutch and foreign literature (prose and poetry) and literary and journalistic non-fiction. Special areas of expertise are the Middle East, North Africa and multicultural society. Maas studied journalism and policial science. For almost fifteen years he worked as a radio journalist and host at IKON.