Kim Hyesoon began publishing in 1979 and was one of the first few women in South Korea to be published in Munhak kwa jisong (Literature and Intellect), one of two key journals which championed the intellectual and literary movement against the US-backed military dictatorships of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo Hwan in the 1970s and 80s.

Paul Hyland is an award-winning poet and travel writer who lives in Dorchester. His many publications include English topographical classics, travel books about Central Africa, India and Iberia, and most recently the acclaimed historical work Ralegh's Last Journey. He also wrote Bloodaxe's indispensable Getting into Poetry, described by Suzy Feay in Time Out as 'essential reading - the guide to the contemporary poetry scene', He performs the Art of the Impossible as a professional magician

Born in 1947, Ioana Ieronim worked as an editor for many years, and became a diplomat in 1992, serving as Cultural Counsellor in the Romanian Embassy in Washington. She is now programme director for Fulbright U.S.-Romanian exchanges in Bucharest.