Reda Gaudiamo is best known for Na Willa, her acclaimed children’s book series, with two titles published in the UK by The Emma Press: The Adventures of Na Willa and Na Willa and the House in the Alley. Her short story collection About Us appeared in 2024. The Na Willa series is currently being adapted into a feature film, bringing the beloved character to a wider audience. Born in Surabaya, East Java, Reda began writing while studying French Literature at Universitas Indonesia. She built a diverse career as a journalist, copywriter, chief editor of Cosmopolitan Indonesia, publisher of lifestyle magazines, and head of corporate communications at a French oil company. Today, she focuses on writing, workshops, and poetry musicalization worldwide.

Born in 1977, Ondjaki is a writer from Angola. He has written poetry, children's books, short stories, novels, drama and film scripts. Ondjaki received his Doctorate in African Studies in Italy. To date (2025) his body of work includes six novels, six collections of short stories, seven collections of poetry and eleven children's books. In 2013 he was awarded the José Saramago Prize for his novel "Transparents". In 2023 (Univ. of Évora, Portugal), he received the Vergílio Ferreira award for his body of work (www.kazukuta.com).

Nadine Kaadan is a Syrian children’s book author and illustrator Living in London. She is published in several countries and languages and her mission is to champion empowered and inclusive representation in children’s books so that every child can see themselves in a story. Her work with young refugees in mitigating post-conflict trauma has captured the attention of CNN and the BBC, both of which have broadcast special features on her books ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘The Jasmine Sneeze’. She has been nominated for a Kate Greenaway Medal, and is the 2019 winner of the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. Nadine was selected as one of The BBC 100 Women 2020’s ‘most influential and inspiring women’, and was featured on their BBC 100 Women masterclass. In 2021, Nadine was commissioned by The Story Museum to be the writer of Amal Meets Alice, a procession event in Oxford that gathered over 100 performers with 8000 people joining on the day. Her latest book, ‘The Kind Activity Book’, illustrated by Nadine and Axel Scheffler- illustrator of the Gruffalo- is published by Scholastic and part of its proceeds will be donated to The Three Peas - a charity NGO that supports Syrian refugees.