Arundhathi Subramaniam is a multi-award winning poet, whose work has  been widely translated and anthologized.  She is the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, a literary honour which India’s National Academy of Letters confers on writers of outstanding merit. 

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra is one of India’s leading poets. His most recent book is The Book of Indian Essays: Two Hundred Years of English Prose, an edited volume.

Ashis Nandy is a leading political and cultural psychologist and a futurist. He is known for his cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural work and is a much-awarded writer and thinker whose books have been translated into at least 15 languages. He is a Homi Bhabha Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) and a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Postcolonial Studies at Melbourne. 

Ashwin Sanghi ranks among India’s highest selling authors in English fiction, for which he has won several awards. He has also written two New York Times best-selling crime thrillers with James Patterson. Ashwin co-writes and edits titles in the 13 Steps series on diverse life-related matters. 

Avni Arlekar is a 13 year old Grade 7 student of The Cathedral & John Connon School in Mumbai. She loves reading and enjoys math. 

Christina Sweeney-Baird is a practicing lawyer whose debut novel The End of Men, published in 2021 is already being translated into 16 languages and being made into a film. 

Daniel Lieberman is the Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He studies and teaches how our evolutionary history affects health and disease. One of his key areas of research is the evolution of running and walking. His latest book published in 2021 is Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding.

David Baldacci is the author of 43 best-selling novels, published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. He has also published seven novels for young readers. He is devoted to the cause of literacy, and his Wish You Well Foundation supports family and adult literacy programmes in the United States.

Devashish Makhija is a multiple award-winning film-maker and author. He is best known for his films Ajji, Bhonsle and Oonga, the last of which he has subsequently written as a novel.

Dolly Thakore is a veteran actor, newscaster, columnist and casting director who has worked in advertising, communications and public relations. She is also a staunch social activist. 

Farah Bashir was born and raised in Kashmir. Her acclaimed first book Rumours of Spring was published in 2021. 

Feisal Alkazi is a prolific theatre director, working with adults and children  in Hindi, English and Urdu.

Gauri Sinh has written four books, her latest being a crime thriller. She is the former editor of several prestigious publications in India. 

Gayatri Rangachari Shah is a Mumbai based journalist, columnist and author, with a focus on women and women’s issues. Her writing has appeared in both national and international publications.

George Jose is Visiting Associate Professor of Anthropology in New York University, Abu Dhabi. He has directed programs in the field of arts and culture for international and regional organizations and has taught in architecture, design, and management institutes

Ghazala Wahab is a veteran journalist who writes on security, terrorism and religious extremism. She is the co-founder of FORCE, a monthly newsmagazine on national security. She has co-authored a book on India’s military strategy qua China,  and is the author of Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India. 

Graeme Simsion is the best-selling author of the novel The Rosie Project, which with its two sequels has sold five million copies in forty languages. His award winning screenplay on which the novel is based is being made into a film. 

Gregg Dreise is a gifted artist, storyteller and musician. He features the didgeridoo and guitar in his performances.  He continually performs in schools, libraries, community events and at the Sydney Opera House.  His storytelling addresses self-image, friendship, kindness, bullying, and indigenous culture.