(Amsterdam, NL, 1963) studied Dutch language and literature in Amsterdam. He writes reviews, interviews, columns and obituaries, and heads the books section of De Volkskrant newspaper. In 2011 he published Eindelijk Sneeuw (Snow at Last: twelve wintry stories about artists, writers, and books, from Willem Witsen's cityscapes to the tears of Mrs. Dickens). Exerpts from his reviews and interviews were published in the books Langzaam lopen is al verdacht (Walking Slowly is Suspicious, 1999), De ongeneeslijke lezer – een werkboek (The Incurable Reader: a workbook, 2002), Het woord is aan de schrijver (The Writer Has the Floor, 2005), and De Broodschrijver (The Hack, 2006), about Bart Chabot's biography of Herman Brood. In 2012 he published Kreten uit een urn (Cries from an Urn), a lecture on the role of the critic in our time. His text "Naar boven mit Brakman" ("Up With Brakman") accompanied the 2015 unveiling of the Brakman monument in Enschede.

(1967) is a Warsaw-born novelist, columnist and playwright living in Brussels. A graduate of Polish philology at Warsaw University, she is the author of best-selling novels Girls from Portofino and Illegal Liaisons, published in the UK, US and Canada. Plebanek is also the author of the novels Box of Stilettos, A Girl Called Przystupa and The Boxer as well as a collection of literary essays, Robbermaid’s Daughters. In 2017 she published her sixth novel, Miss Fury. Her books show the difficult truths about the integration between cultures. She writes a regular column in the Polish weekly Polityka, as well as in Poland’s daily Gazeta Wyborcza and in Trendy magazine. She was awarded the Zlote Sowy Literary Prize for her contributions to promoting Poland abroad.