Tariq Ali, historian and novelist
Simon Armitage, poet
Iain Bamforth, poet
Julian Barnes, novelist
Susan Bassnett, professor of comparative literature
Miranda Carter, biographer
Jenny Diski, novelist and short story writer
Isobel Dixon, literary critic and poet
Terry Eagleton, professor of comparative literature
Michel Faber, novelist and short-story writer
Stephen Frears, film director
Maggie Gee, novelist
David Godwin
Sophie Hannah
Helon Habila, novelist
Rachel Holmes, biographer
Richard Holmes, biographer
Ian Jack, editor
Derek Johns,
Nick Laird, poet
Toby Litt, novelist and short-story writer
Sinead Morrissey, poet
Kate Mosse, novelist and founder and honary director of the Orange Prize
Andrew O'Hagan, novelist
Ruth Padel, poet
Tom Raworth, poet
Michael Schmidt, poet and publisher
Kamila Shamsie, novelist
Ali Smith, novelist and short-story writer
Zadie Smith, novelist
Claire Tomalin, biographer
Jeffrey Wainwright, poet
Jeanette Winterson, novelist

Pictures: author (photographer), left to right
Ali Smith (Sarah Wood), Julian Barnes (Jillian Edelstein), Michel Faber (Danielle Schaub), Zadie Smith (Penguin), Claire Tomalin (Michael Frayn), Simon Armitage (Jason Bell)