Name: Monzer AlMasri Country: Syria

AlMasri was born in Latakya in 1949. He finished his academic studies in Aleppo University in 1971. He has diplomas in regional planning from Warsaw and Bologna. His collections of poetry include Tea Is Not Slow, Difficult Hopes, Human Being, Be My Friend and It Is Hard To Create a Summer.

Name: Nujoom  Alghanem Country: United Arab Emirates

Alghanem was born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She received her BSc in television production from Ohio University in 1996 and an MA in film production from Griffith University in Australia in 1999. She is apoet and film-maker. Recently, she joined the Abu Dhabi Authority of Culture and Heritage as board member.

Name: Mekkaoui Said Country: Egypt

Said was born in Cairo in 1955. He published his first collection of short stories, Running Towards the Light, in 1981. Since then he has published many novels, as well as writing scripts for short and long films and for documentaries. He has also written for children magazines throughout the Arab world. His novel Swan Song was short-listed for the first International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

Name: Ed Husain Country: UK

Ed Husain was born, raised, and educated in London. He has lived and travelled extensively in the Middle East and worked for the British Council in Damascus and Jeddah.
He is conducting doctoral research on Arab experiences of secularism. His first book, The Islamist, published by Penguin, has sparked much debate and discussion around issues of religion, identity, and politics.
Ed is deputy director of the Muslim think-tank, The Quilliam Foundation