IMG_3861Emma Baxter-Wright is the best-selling author of The Little Book of Chanel and Chanel by Lagerfeld (Welbeck). A specialist in Twentieth-Century fashion, beauty and fashion photography, Emma teaches Fashion Journalism on the MA course at UCA. She studied fashion at Saint Martin’s School of Art where in 1979 she found herself amongst Mrs Thatcher’s most fashionable generation. She is currently working on a cultural history of British art schools.

Lucie Brownlee’s memoir Life After You (Ebury), based on her award-winning blog, was a Sunday Times bestseller and a Richard and Judy 2015 Autumn Book Club pick. Her pilot TV script Wife After Death, loosely based on her memoir, is in development with Objective Fiction. Her memoir was previously adapted for TV by Georgia Pritchett (Succession). Lucie holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Newcastle University and lives with her daughter & dogs.

Renata Calverley was born in Poland in 1937. A retired English teacher, she has written an extraordinary account of her childhood in which she escaped the ghetto and, rescued by strangers, found salvation in books. Let Me Tell You a Story, is published by Bloomsbury UK and US and has been translated into several languages.

AdamAdam Critchley is a journalist and translator. Born in Stoke-on-Trent, he has lived in Spain and China, and is currently based in Tepoztlán, Mexico. His debut collection of short stories, set in Mexico, brings together the fates of foreign correspondents, drifters and retired surfers – and have formerly been published in The Brooklyn Review and El Puro Cuento.

Mikey 2Mikey Cuddihy was orphaned at nine in New York. A year later she was dumped at AS Neill’s famous ‘free’ school, Summerhill, Suffolk, by Uncle Tom. Classes were optional and teachers swam naked. Her acclaimed memoir,  A Conversation about Happiness (Atlantic Books) was optioned by Film4. ‘Swallows and Amazons one day, Lord of the Flies the next’, The Telegraph, ‘A compelling combination of fairy tale and investigative journalism,’ Susanna Moore (In the Cut) www.mikeycuddihy.co.uk.

d3cceba6-e2b2-4102-90b1-122ecd2f0a44Jenny Evans is a journalist and filmmaker. She cut her teeth as a researcher for Nick Davies at The Guardian as part of the team that broke the phone hacking scandal. Jenny’s debut memoir, Don’t Let it Break You, Honey (Little Brown, 2025) is the powerful story of her fight for justice in the wake of a sexual assault. Jenny lives in Bristol with her husband, Jasper, son, Leo and cat, Cwtch. She is studying law part time. www.jenny-evans.co.uk

ben07Ben Lyle is the author of the highly acclaimed Wiggins spy thrillers, The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy, The Red Ribbon, The Year of the Gun, Spy Hunter (Hodder UK, Mobius US) featuring working class spy, Wiggins. The novels trade on his deep knowledge of London, fascination with spies and love of Sherlock Holmes. A former screenplay executive, he is currently working on the TV adaptation of Wiggins. hblyle.com

Aziz Hakimi was born in Herat, Afghanistan, in 1973 and now lives in Malta. He grew up in Iran where his family took refuge after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. In 1989, he returned to Afghanistan, living in Kabul during the civil war. He has worked for the BBC World Service and is a regular contributor to BBC Persia. He is the founder and editor of nebesht.com, the Persian Creative Writing Magazine. His debut novel, Trees Die Upright, set against the previous Taliban insurgency, has been published in Italy (Newton Compton). He is currently completing a collection of short stories, Kabul Blues.

Arlene MaltmanIn the summer of ’76, Jersey school girl Arlene Maltman borrowed a surfboard, dragged it down to the whitewater and taught herself how to surf. She would go on to win the European and British Championships before winning a surf scholarship to The University of Santa Barbara. Her stunning memoir, Girls Don’t Surf, tells the story of her determination to surf and her battle to compete in the macho world of competitive sport.

IMG_1020James Moore works in The Department of Education. He has also worked as a script consultant. He has a BA in English Literature from Lincoln College, Oxford and works for the Department of Education. He recently finished his first novel, inspired by his love of George Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Headshot_SusanSavilleSusan Moore is the author of the Nat Walker middle grade series for kids, Crimson Poison, Emerald Secret, and Indigo Island (Nosy Crow). After many years in California working at Lucasfilm, Susan lives with her husband and daughter and wolf pup, Tigger, in Surrey. She received an MA with distinction in Creative Writing from Kingston University.  www.susanmooreauthor.com

nell_smallNell Raven began her writing career as a news journalist in London before moving with her family to Asia. After freelancing for a year for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, she spent four years in Pakistan raising her daughter and corresponding for nationals including the Telegraph. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes University and is completing her debut novel, America’s Mistress, a tale of love and revenge set in Islamabad.

ss2Scott Savitt is a former Beijing correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and United Press International. His articles have been published in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. In 1994 he founded Beijing Scene, China’s first independent weekly newspaper. He is the in-house Chinese-English translator for numerous human rights organisations. Crashing the Party, his acclaimed memoir of two decades in China, is published by SoftSkull. ‘The picaresque, poignant Crashing the Party, brings us closer to the soul of the country,’ LARB www.scottsavitt.com