(Rotterdam, NL 1976) is a writer, poet and journalist. His book Het zusje van de bruid (The Bride's Sister, 2011) deals with his relationship with an addicted borderline girl. In his characteristic mixture of reportage, autobiography and historical writing Van Casteren tells the story of an amour fou. In 2008 he wrote the autobiographical Lelystad. He was accused of grave insult because of the book, which was nominated for the 2009 AKO Literature Prize. Van Casteren studied journalism and philosophy. At the age of 21 he became an editor with the Amsterdam based weekly De Groene Amsterdammer, where he made a name for himself with extensive reports. Four stories which he made in Nigeria were collected in Redactie Binnenland (Home Desk) and awarded the Dick Scherpenzeel Prize. Van Casteren also worked for the daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad and the weekly Vrij Nederland and now works for the Amsterdam daily newspaper Het Parool. He published poetry in Maatstaf and Passionate Magazine. He also wrote portraits of forgotten poets and writers, published a collection of his reports in Een vreselijk land (A Terrible Country) and the collection of poems Grote atomen (Large Atoms). In January 2013 he published his novel Been in de IJssel (Bone in the IJssel).

(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.

(Poland, 1967) is a journalist and columnist. He worked for the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and now writes for the leading weekly review Polityka. In his work the focus is on Latin America, the antiglobalist movement, social conflicts and religious issues. The biography he wrote about his master Ryszard Kapuściński (Kapuściński Non–Fiction, Biography of a Legendary Journalist) is a portrait of how a journalist and writer was able to transform the experience of living under an authoritarian regime into great literature. The question which Domoslawski raised is whether one is allowed to have complete control over reality in order to sketch it even better. In addition to the biography he wrote four other books, among those Latin American Fever, 2004, and Rebellious America, 2007, an account of his conversations with prominent American intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Philip Zimbardo, the social-psychologist who is known for his ‘Stanford prison experiment’. Domoslawski won various literary and journalistic prizes, and grants from the Universities of Stanford and New York.

(Emmen, NL, 1964) studied tropical agricultural engineering and was a correspondent for the Volkskrant and NRC Handelsblad newspapers in Belgrade and Moskow. He wrote about his time there in 1994's De Brug over de Tara (The Bridge over the River Tara). Together with journalist Bart Rijs he wrote 1997's  Srebrenica, Het zwartste scenario (Srebrenica, the Blackest Scenario). Ingenieurs van de ziel (Engineers of the Soul) was published in 2002, an inquiry into the foundations of the Soviet system and the role of writers. De Graanrepubliek (The Grain Republic), about the struggle between rich gentlemen farmers and communist workers in Groningen, was published earlier. Westerman's novel El Negro en ik (El Negro and Me), inspired by a preserved South African in a Spanish museum, was published in 2004 and won the Gouden Uil prize. His revised and augmented 2015 edition of De Slag om Srebrenica (The Battle for Srebrenica) won the Prinsjes Book Prize for best political book. Een woord een woord (One Word One Word) appeared in 2016, in which he tests the strength of free speech under the pressure of terrorist threats. As a child, he experienced the Molukkan train hijacking at close quarters; as a correspondent, he witnessed Chechen terror in Russia. Drawing on these gripping experiences, he describes a series of hostage dramas. In Zeven dieren bijten terug (Seven Animals Bite Back), Frank Westerman encounters seven magnificent creatures in the wake of Willem Barentsz. Along the way, the reader becomes captivated by the wondrous tale of seven polar animals and what they have to tell us at our latitude.