(Iran, 1989) -- writer, poet and columnist -- received much praise and many prizes for her debut novel De hemel is altijd paars (The Sky is Always Purple, 2021). Readers were moved by the story of a young woman working in a charity shop, who falls in love with a musician and reflects on her homeland of Iran with mixed feelings. Rezazadeh, who studied medicine, came to The Netherlands in 2015. Her second novel, Ik ken een berg die op me wacht (I Know a Mountain Waiting for Me) appeared in 2023. In her characteristic poetic style, she writes about a woman who upends her life and travels from Amsterdam to Iran to join a nomadic family -- a story about yearning for quiet and space, told from the perspective of a river. Her first poetry collection, Neem ruim zei de zee, was published in 2024.

(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.