(1973) won the Bronze Owl for Muidhond in October 2015. This debut novel about a young pedophile named Jonathan received many four- and five-star reviews in the press. The protagonist is acquitted of a sexual offence with a child due to insufficient evidence. He moves in with his asthmatic, religious mother, determined to stay on a righteous path. He diligently does the exercises prescribed by a prison psychologist in preparation for rehabilitation treatment. But then he meets the ten-year-old girl next door, who keeps seeking out his company... "Inge Schilperoord is stylistically strong and writes with empathy but also with control. The story is both cruel and beautiful," wrote Elsevier magazine. English, Italian and French translation rights have since been sold. Schilperoord works as a forensic psychologist at the Pieter Baan Centrum and other institutions, and writes for NRC Handelsblad as well as Psychologie and Crossing Border magazines.

(Netherlands, 1958) has produced and presented the VPRO radio programme OVT since 2002, a two-hour show about the historical roots of current events as well as newly released historical books, films, commemorations, and anything else related to history. The show features live interviews, reportage, columns and a weekly documentary during the last half hour. He was already linked to OVT since 1992 as a programmer and previously freelanced for other national Dutch broadcasters such as VARA and IKON.

(Netherlands, 1945) writes novels, stories, essays, lectures and columns with a strong historical bent. She debuted with 1987's Tine of de dalen waar het leven woont (Tine, or the Valleys Where Life Lives), a fictitious biography of 19th-century Dutch writer Multatuli's first wife. Her book De naam van de vader (The Name of the Father) won the 1994 Multatuli Prize. In 2002 she wrote Pelican Bay, about slavery in the Caribbean and the Netherlands. Her essay collection Schatplicht (Tribute) appeared in 2013, and her 2016 novel Aan het eind van de dag (At the End of the Day) is simultaneously a portrait of a career woman and a snapshot of the second half of the 20th century. De val van Thomas G. (The fall of Thomas G.) tells about the publisher of a controversial book. Noordervliet's body of work was awarded the 2018 Constantijn Huygens Prize.

(Zeddam, NL, 1956) is a Dutch journalist, historian and radio presenter. He was founder and editor-in-chief of the Historical Newsletter and he worked for the University of Leiden newspaper Mare. Palm also writes for Trouw newspaper and the Groene Amsterdammer magazine. He has written books such as De vergeten geschiedenis van Nederland (The Forgotten History of The Netherlands); Oerend hard (Super Fast), about the musician Ben Jolink; and Moederkerk, de ondergang van rooms Nederland (Mother Church: The Decline of the Roman-Catholic Netherlands). After a Catholic upbringing he turned away from the religion. He was very active for years with the then-revolutionary SP socialist party. Among other things, he works for OVT, the history program of the VPRO public radio station.

(Belgium, 1969) is the stage name of Belgian singer Helmut Lotigiers, who debuted with the Gent opera at age five. Fourteen years later he became well known in the Dutch/Flemish sphere through his participation in the Soundmixshow. More than 13 million of his "classical lite" records have been sold. He sang duets with Andrea Bocelli, Montserrat Caballé, Eros Ramazzotti, Placido Domingo and Cliff Richard, among others. He also gained world fame with lite-classical versions of African, Latin American and Russian pop songs. He has reached the number-two spot on American Billboard. After some down time, he went in a whole new direction with 2013's Mijn hart & mijn lijf (My Body & Soul), an album of a dozen original numbers sung in Dutch. For a literary evening at the Brussels Bozar in 2015, he composed musical literary portraits. At this festival, he performs with poets and sets poetry to music.

(Belgium, 1978) will be accompanying singer Helmut Lotti on the piano at the Winternatchten festival. He studied in Brussels, Antwerp and Rotterdam, receiving instruction in classical music as well as jazz and world music. Due to his versatility as a pianist and a music director, he is suited to both classical performances as well as musical productions, and is in high demand as a musician by jazz and pop groups. He has worked with groups like Spring, Cookies & Cream, Jackobond and Els De Schepper. He was also one of two pianists on the VRT TV programme "Sing that Song" (2013-14), in which two teams compete in a musical game. While he was still studying, he was approached to compose music for theatre, working with Raam Theatre and Het Gevolg. He also sings and plays his own songs with Old English texts.

(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.

(1973) is an historian and a journalist. In 2013 she published Het nieuwe land (The New Land), on the history of the creation of the Dutch polder Flevoland. De helpende hand (The Helping Hand) is her second book.

(The Netherlands, 1946) grew up in a family with a past in the Dutch East Indies. He draws on these experiences in several of his works such as My Father's War (1995), Repatriated (2002) and in Naar zachtheid en een warm omhelzen (2023). Van Dis became well known via his literary television programme Here is... Adriaan van Dis (1983-1992). In addition to novels he has written novellas, travelogues, essays and plays. He presented TV documentary series and his podcast Van Dis Ongefilterd. He has received the Constantijn Huygens Award for his entire body of work. Recent publications are the collection Vijf vrolijke verhalen (2021), the novel KliFi, woede in de republiek Nederland (2022) and the essay De kolonie mept terug: over witte arrogantie en voortschrijdend inzicht: een denkoefening en leesreis (2024). During the Writers Unlimited Festival 2026, Van Dis will be the main interview guest on Saturday afternoon, 24 January, following the publication of his new book Alles voor de reis (Everything for the Journey), and on Sunday morning, 25 January, he and interviewer Simon Dikker Hupkes will record a new episode of his podcast series Van Dis Ongefilterd (Van Dis Unfiltered) live with an audience.

Go to website of Adriaan van Dis

(Belgium, 1955) writes widely on wide-ranging topics, from poetry about her late husband Herman de Coninck in Taal zonder mij (Language without Me, 1998) to the struggle of an anorexia patient in her book Ann (2008). The human condition is always central to her extensive oeuvre. Her work also pays a noticeable amount of attention to the female sexual experience. In her novel De waar gebeurde geschiedenis van Victor en Clara Rooze (The True History of Victor and Clara Rooze), Hemmerechts plays with fact and fiction: a writer with writer's block tackles a story of incest to give free reign to her thoughts about writing and literature. Haar Bloed (Her Blood) appeared in 2012, for which she spent time in a hematology ward. In 2014 she caused an uproar with De vrouw die de honden eten gaf (The Woman Who Fed the Dogs), a novel inspired by the Dutroux case. Her latest novel Alles verandert (Everything Changes) closely follows the plot of J.M. Coetzee's In Ongenade (Disgrace), but with a female protagonist. How much does the gender of literary characters determine our view of their actions?