William Kentridge (born Johannesburg 1955) is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theatre and opera productions. His method combines drawing, writing, film, performance, music, theatre, and collaborative practices to create works of art that are grounded in politics, science, literature and history, yet maintaining a space for contradiction and uncertainty. His work has been seen in museums and galleries around … Read More

Villagers is the music project of Conor O’Brien which began in 2008, but it was his 2010 debut Becoming A Jackal that he truly made a mark, receiving nominations for the Mercury Music Prize and Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year. His latest album, That Golden Time, underlines O’Brien’s commitment to a fusion of folk, pop and rock. … Read More

Una Mannion is a novelist and short story writer based in County Sligo. Her debut novel A Crooked Tree in 2021 won the Kate O’Brien Prize and was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. Her second novel Tell Me What I Am won the Gold Dagger at the CWA Dagger Awards 2024. She teaches creative writing in the Oscar Wilde … Read More

SUZANNE O’SULLIVAN is an Irish neurologist working in Britain. Her first book, Is It All in Your Head?: True Stories of Imaginary Illness, won the 2016 Wellcome Book Prize and the Royal Society of Biology General Book Prize. She lives in London.

Sue Rainsford is an Irish novelist and art writer. She is a recipient of the VAI/DCC Art Writing Award, the Arts Council Literature Bursary Award, a MacDowell Fellowship, the Kate O’Brien Award and le Prix Imaginales Award. Notable commissions include RTÉ Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4, and she has been writer in residence at Maynooth University and UCD. She … Read More

Steven Pinker is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, focused on visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Humanist of the Year, a recipient of nine honorary doctorates. His books include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Blank Slate. His thirteenth book, due this year, is called When Everyone Knows … Read More

Sin Blaché is an author and musician. They have been writing horror and sci-fi stories all their life. Prophet is their first novel. Born in California, they live in the Northwest of Ireland and can be found obsessing over obscure folk instruments and playing too many video games.

Seán Ronayne is a Cork-born ornithologist, wildlife sound-recordist, author, and environmental activist. In 2021, he started to document the vocalisations of every Irish bird species. In spring 2024, Birdsong, a documentary about Seán’s recording project, was released to great acclaim. His first book Nature Boy, won Irish Biography of the Year last year.

Samantha Harvey is the author of the novels Orbital, The Wilderness, All is Song, Dear Thief and The Western Wind and a work of non-fiction, The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping. Orbital was the winner of the Booker Prize 2024. She is a tutor on the MA course in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.

Rupert Everett is an actor, writer and director. He has appeared in film and TV productions including Napoleon, My Policeman, Adult Material, The Serpent Queen, Funny Woman, An Ideal Husband and My Best Friend’s Wedding. On stage his work includes Another Country, The Vortex, Pygmalion, Amadeus and The Judas Kiss. His film of Oscar Wilde’s later years, The Happy Prince … Read More