Damien Atkins is an actor and playwright who was born in Australia and grew up in Edmonton. As author and performer, his work includes the solo shows miss chatelaine, Real Live Girl, and We Are Not Alone, as well as the full-length plays Good Mother, Lucy, and The Mill, Part Four: Ash.

He has been playwright-in-residence at the Canadian Stage Company, Factory Theatre, Crow's Theatre, and at the University of British Columbia. He is the recipient of four Dora Mavor Moore Awards and six additional nominations for acting and writing. Damien is a member of the Theatrefront Ensemble and a former guest instructor at the National Theatre School. He makes his home in Toronto.

Eileen Atkins is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Cranford. She is also a three-time Olivier Award winner, winning Best Supporting Performance in 1988 (for multiple roles) and Best Actress for The Unexpected Man (1999) and Honour (2004). She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2001.

Kate Atkinson won the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year Award with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. She is the author of other best-selling novels and Abandonment, her first full-length play, premiered at the Traverse Theatre in 2000.

Mohammad Al Attar has been a member of the Theatre Studio Group in Damascus since 2006 and works on a variety of projects as a dramaturg, including productions at the Syrian Opera House.

Kate Attwell is a playwright, television writer and devised theatre maker, working between London and New York.

Her plays include Testmatch (American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, 2019; Orange Tree Theatre / English Touring Theatre / Bolton Octagon, 2024).

Jane Austen (1775–1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction set among the landed gentry have earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature.

Josh Azouz is a playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. His plays include: Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia (Almeida Theatre, London, 2021) ;Victoria's Knickers (National Youth Theatre, 2018); Buggy Baby (Yard Theatre, London, 2018); and The Mikvah Project (Yard Theatre, 2015).

Sylvia Backemeyer is Director of Learning Resources at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and is the editor of several books on art and design.

David Baddiel is a comedian, author, screenwriter and television presenter.

His debut play, God's Dice, was premiered at Soho Theatre in 2019.

Samuel Bailey is a playwright whose debut play, Shook, was the winner of the 2019 Papatango New Writing Prize, and was premiered by Papatango at Southwark Playhouse in 2019, followed by a UK tour.

His other plays include Sorry, You're Not a Winner (Paines Plough, 2022).

He was the recipient of the Times Breakthrough Award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2021.