Josephine Balmer’s most recent collection, Things We Leave Behind: Selected Poems, was a 2025 Poetry Book of the Year in The Observer. She has published five other poetry volumes, including The Paths of Survival, a Poetry Book of the Year in The Times and short-listed for the 2017 International Hellenic Prize. In addition, she has published acclaimed translations of Sappho, Classical Women Poets and Catullus. She has previously been a judge for The Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry in Translation.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Rena Brannan is of American Irish and Korean descent. Brannan was a member of the Critical Mass Writers Program at The Royal Court, London. Founding member of Arcola’s Middle Eastern, Asian and North African writers program. Member of the Arcola Lab writer’s residency. The CUTS was part of the Arcola 2nd Playwrought Festival. Mount Vernon premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2016 and King's Head Theatre London in 2018. Shutters: A Lesbian Rock Opera premiered at the Omnibus Theatre June 2023. Ginzel's Little Cordoba premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2023 and at the London Crossrail Amphitheatre 2024. Her monologue Artefact about Betty Ford premiered at the Playground Theatre London September 2023. Her poetry has been published in several literary magazines and she is currently working on her third novel.

Sophie Ward is an actor and writer from North London. She has published articles in The Times, The Guardian, The Spectator, The Observer, and The New York Times. As an actor, she has worked in film, television, and theatre and regularly records audiobooks. She has a degree in Philosophy and Literature, an MA in Creative Writing from Birmingham City, and a PhD from Goldsmiths on the use of narrative in philosophy. Her first novel, Love and Other Thought Experiments, was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Her second and third novels were longlisted for the Polari Prize. In 2027 she will take up a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship.