(Belgium, 1976) writes novels, film scripts and plays. Her debut novel Slaap! (Sleep!) was published in 2003, followed by three novels (Reus, Vissen redden, Dertig dagen); four collections of short stories; a collection of journalism pieces, Wakker (Awake, together with photographer Charlie De Keersmaecker); and the graphic novella Tirol Inferno, written in iambic pentameter and rhyme and co-created with illustrator Klaas Verplancke. Her work has been translated into 26 languages and won various prizes, such as the F. Bordewijk Prize, the Opzij Literature Prize, the J.M.A. Biesheuvel Prize, and the NRC Handelsblad Readers Prize. She has also written several plays and film scripts, and worked with various theatre companies, especially Rotterdam-based Wunderbaum. In 2023, she published short stories in Koude soep (Cold Soup) and JIJ (You), an anthology of you-stories. January 2024 will see the premiere of Wunderbaum speel live (online gaat het mis), a theatre production by Wunderbaum with a stage text by Annelies Verbeke.

(Morocco, 1975) is an award-winning writer, poet, playwright and curator. His 1996 debut, Bruiloft aan zee (Wedding By the Sea), was an immediate success. His second novel, De langverwachte (The Long-awaited) won him the prestigious 2003 Libris Literature Award. Benali's subjects vary, but sports and the migrant who never really feels at home are recurring themes. He has written novels about his great passion of running, about his travels, and about migrants' cultural identity (Bad Boy). His work has been published internationally. Recent books include the novel Paradijsvogel boven Hoge Woerd (Bird of Paradise over Hoge Woerd, 2022) and Het andere verhaal (The Other Story, 2022), an essay about his research into 75 years of modern Moroccan art.