(Damascus, 1979) published Weg van Damascus (Away from Damascus, 2015), a Dutch language collection of his poems that was for weeks in the top ten of best-selling poetry volumes, followed in 2017 by Ik hier jij daar (Me Here You There), a collection he wrote with poet Anne Vegter. Almadhoun was born in a Palestinian refugee camp, the son of a Palestinian father and a Syrian mother. He studied Arabic literature and worked as a cultural journalist in Damascus, where he also set up a house of poetry. In 2008 he asked for political asylum in Sweden. Two poetry collections were published there, one of them written with Marie Silkeberg, with whom he also created poetry films. His poetry is imbued with feelings of homesickness and the guilt of a young intellectual who left his native country. His work has been translated into many European languages as well as Chinese.

(Morocco, 1973) is a journalist, columnist, translator, researcher and producer. She publishes in various media (including Dutch national daily newspaper NRC and women's magazine Linda); runs her own online magazine for culture lovers, Aicha Qandisha. She compiled a story collection about Arab women, Achter de sluier (Behind the Veil, 1999); 2013 saw the publication of her book Arabieren kijken (Looking at Arabs), about "ordinary" people in the Arab world. She made TV programs for various broadcasters, including the documentary series Seks en de Zonde (Sex and Sin). Together with Michelin-starred chef Soenil Bahadoer, she wrote the culinary books Spicy Chef (2020) and Streetfood (2022). She published two further books in 2022: Een koffer vol citroenen (A Suitcase Full of Lemons), a requiem for and portrait of her mother, and Arbeidsmigranten in Nederland (Migrant Labourers in the Netherlands).