(Turkey, 1965) is a writer and, since 2021, chair of the writers' organisation PEN International. He is a Senior Member of Hughes Hall College and Trinity College, University of Cambridge. His novels have been translated into more than 40 languages and won international awards. He wrote the novels Kuzey (North), Masumlar (published in English as Sins & Innocents, 2014), Istanbul Istanbul (published in English under the same title, 2016), Labyrinth (under the same title published in English, 2019) en Taş ve Gölge (published in English as Stone and Shadow, 2023), among others. Sönmez was born in Turkey and grew up speaking Turkish and Kurdish. He worked as a lawyer in Istanbul before moving to Britain for political reasons and living there in exile for several years. He publishes in news media such as La Repubblica, Der Spiegel and The Guardian. He translated William Blake's poetry collection The Marriage of Heaven and Hell into Turkish.

(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.