(Suriname, 1936) made her writer's debut with Hoe duur was de suiker? (How Costly Was the Sugar?, 1987), the novel that made her the most famous Surinamese writer overnight and was adapted for film in 2013. She was the first to describe the history, the slaving past and the colonization of her country from a Surinamese perspective. As an expert in the field, she lectures about the history of slavery at US and Canadian universities and organizes educational field and city trips. She has written historic novels, including De Vrije Negerin Elisabeth, gevangene van kleur (The Free Negress Elizabeth, Prisoner of Colour, 1992), as well as studies, children's books and children's musicals. Her No kwik in het bos (No Mercury in the Forest, 2017) is a YA novel about a ten-year-old girl and the dangers of mercury in the gold-mining process. McLeod is a daughter of Johan Ferrier, the first president of Suriname.

(Rozenburg, NL, 1976) is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. She interviewed her own parents for her series Veerboot naar Holland (Ferry to Holland), about five Turkish families emigrating to the Netherlands. She followed this up in 2012 with Ik zie een verre reis (I See a Long Journey Ahead), about her sister and two friends who want to return to Turkey. Born and raised in the Netherlands, the girls used to sing along with Dutch crooner Marco Borsato as kids. However, embittered by the aftermath of 9/11, they now read Turkish newspapers, watch Turkish television, and support Turkish football teams. After her journalism studies, Ekiz first worked for the Rotterdams Dagblad daily newspaper. In 2003 she went to Iraq as a reporter, and later became a correspondent in Istanbul for RTL Nieuws, BNR Nieuwsradio, the NMO (a Muslim radio and TV station), and the news agency GPD, among others. Back in the Netherlands she worked as an editor for "Pauw & Witteman," a popular late-night TV talk show, and was a panellist for the women's talk show "Vrouw & Paard". IN 2016, Dutch public television network VARA broadcast her six-part documentairy series De Pen en Het Zwaard, in which she visits journalists in countries where rulers try to silence them.

(Brummen, NL, 1959 - Amsterdam, 2016) was a poet, journalist, and media presenter. At a young age he debuted as a poet in the Dutch literary magazine Hollands Maandblad. Since then he has published books of poetry quite regularly, such as Neem me mee zei de hond (Take Me With You Said the Dog, 2010). After the publication of his first collection Inslag (Impact, 1985), he began working as an interviewer for the VPRO broadcasting company. Later he became head producer of the Radio 6 programme "De Avonden." Since 2005  he talked to writers on VPRO's book programme "Boeken" on both TV and radio. He put together Briefgeheimen (Postcard Secrets, 2007), a colourful compilation of postcards linked to a website where people can divulge their deepest secrets. Overkomst dringend gewenst (Return Voyage Urgently Requested), his anthology of the work of poet Jan Emmens, was published in 2012, and his most recent poetry collection, 's Middags zwem ik in de Noordzee (In the Afternoons I Swim in the North Sea) in 2014. Brands was one of the "Lonely Departure" poets who compose and present a final poetic tribute to people who pass away without friends or family.