(Hulshorst, NL, 1951) received the Anne Vondeling Award for political journalism in 2008, owing to her sharp analyses of social problems. She is a journalist in the widest sense of the word. Besides being an editor and columnist with the NRC Handelsblad newspaper, she makes frequent appearances on radio and TV. In 2007 she debuted as a novelist with Maak jezelf maar klaar (Go Get Yourself Off), in which one of the characters from Harry Mulisch's The Discovery of Heaven figures as a main character. Etty obtained her Ph.D. with distinction from Utrecht University with a biography of Henriëtte Roland Holst, Liefde is heel het leven niet (Love Is Not All of Life, 1996). Her newspaper columns appeared in four different books. Her reviews were compiled in Dames gaan voor - Van Hella Haasse to Connie Palmen (Ladies First: From Hella Haasse to Connie Palmen, 1999). Etty is a special lecturer in Literary Criticism at the Free University in Amsterdam, and is now at work on a biography of the late Dutch poet and songwriter Willem Wilmink.

(Belgium, 1976) in the blurb of her novel Wij en ik (We and I, 2013) Tom Lanoye called her ‘for years the most stubborn, most capricious and most attractive pen in Belgium. In this penetrating family novel she chastises modern European man and describes how strong family ties are. ‘The Great Flemish novel isn't dead. It has just been written by Saskia De Coster’, Herman Koch wrote. Multitalented De Coster made her debut in 2000 with the story Onder elkaar (Among Each Other). She writes with gusto and soaks her stories - often populated by unwordly characters  - in a firm dash of humor. She writes columns too, is a visual and video artist and she writes for the theatre - and lyrics. Saskia De Coster is very active on international literary stages. De Costers latest novel was published in 2015 and received (just like 'Wij en ik' did) the 'Cutting Edge Award'.

(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.