Fred D’Aguiar was born in London in 1960, and grew up in Guyana, returning to Britain at the age of 12. His first two collections, Mama Dot (1985) and Airy Hall (1989), were published by Chatto, Mama Dot winning a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and Airy Hall the Guyana Prize for Poetry. In 1992 his poem-film Sweet Thames was shown in BBC 2’s Words on Film series, winning the Race in the Media Award, and his play A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death, was staged at the Royal Court Theatre. He has held the Judith E. Wilson Fellowship at the University of Cambridge and was Northern Arts Literary Fellow in Newcastle and Durham. He now lectures at the University of Miami.

Amanda Dalton is a poet and playwright. Born in Coventry, she was a deputy headteacher for five years. After organising writers’ courses for four years for the Arvon Foundation at Lumb Bank, she is now Education Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Her first book-length collection, How to Disappear (Bloodaxe Books, 1999), was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and chosen as a Next Generation Poets title by the Poetry Book Society in 2004. Her second collection, Stray, is published by Bloodaxe in 2012. Her radio drama includes Room of Leaves (1998) for BBC Radio 4, which was shortlisted for the Prix Italia award, and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (2011) for BBC Radio 3. She lives in Hebden Bridge.