(Indonesia, 1970) is a writer and a journalist. In her work the violence in Indonesia is a leitmotiv. In her book Jangan Tulis Kami Teroris (Don't portray us as terrorists) she not only highlights the religious, political and gender themes in her own country, but also scrutinises other south-east Asian countries. She has won many prizes: among others the Human Rights Award for the best essay. Recently she was recipient of the prestigious South-East-Asia Literature Prize 2013. In Tongkat Sultan (The Sultan's Stick) she tells about the thirty-year old conflict in Aceh, the social political situation and the peace process after the tsunami. Part of this novel was adapted for opera and performed at the World PEN Forum in Japan. In 2009 she was, together with Christine Otten, Antjie Krog (South Africa) and Gündüz Vassaf (Turkey) a guest at the International Literature Festival Morocco, on behalf of Writers Unlimited. She is now working on a novel about the tensions and conflicts of post-Suharto Indonesia.

is a political scientist at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS, part of Erasmus University Rotterdam) in The Hague and interested in transformative change and social movements, Together with his international students, he looks for alternative ways to support political democracy at a grassroots level. He constantly seeks out new forms of research, including "storytelling", which has become an increasingly important research method.

(South Africa, 1952) is a poet, writer, academic and a cherished reciter. Her book Country of My Skull (2000, adapted for film in 2004) is a personal account of the proceedings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She published her autobiographical memoirs as A Change of Tongue (2003). Krog has won many prizes, including the Hertzog prize in South Africa and the 2018 Gouden Ganzenveer in the Netherlands. An anthology of her poetry was published in Dutch in 2010, titled Hoe zeg je dat (How Do You Say That), and Begging to be Black, the sequel to Country of My Skull and A Change of Tongue.

Singer/songwriter Neco grew up in Mozambique, in a family in which five out of ten children became musicians. He left for Portugal, studied classical guitar and singing, and then went to study at Codarts in Rotterdam. He travelled through Europe in order to perform, now and then accompanied by his brothers and sisters. From 2004 Neco Novellas became a real band of bothers and sisters. The catchy music has influences of South African choral music, reggae and rock, jazz and classical music, and the chopi music from the motherland.

(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.