(Castricum, 1948) as a strip cartoonist is well-known for his Sjef van Oekel cartoons. At age fifteen his first strip cartoon book was published. After that he wrote cartoon strips for among others Hitweek, in which he ridiculed society on the basis of song-texts. Later he wrote strip cartoons for among others Voetbal International. In 1976 his first Sjef van Oekel strip appeared in Nieuwe Revu, based on the well-known but somewhat controversial tv creation by Wim T. Schippers - played by Dolf Brouwers. The successful series was discontinued because Brouwers, who got nothing for being portrayed, no longer wanted to be depicted as a cursing man keen on porn. In recent years Van den Boogaard has chosen another road with cartoons about Amsterdam and the album Bob Dylan Illustrated (under his penname Theo Bogart) with drawings based on Dylan songs. He recently performed with his Dylan repertoire, whereby he sings showing images from his strip cartoons.

(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.

(Surinam, 1967) is an MP for the Dutch socialist party. She used to work as a project manager for the NOS (public broadcasting station) and as a presenter and programme maker for MTNL (Multicultural Television Nederland) and OHM (Dutch Hindu channel). She studied law at the Free University in Amsterdam. In 2002 she received the diversity prize of the city of Amsterdam for her radio programme highlighting the positive aspects of the multicultural society. In 2003 she was recipient of the prize awarded by the public at the Hollandse Nieuwe writers' festival.