A.C. Grayling is one of Britain's leading intellectuals. He is the author of the best-selling The Meaning of Things, The Reason of Things and most recently The Mystery of Things. He is a columnist for The Times and a regular contributor to the Financial Times, The Observer, Independent on Sunday, Economist, Literary Review, New Statesman and Prospect, and a frequent and popular contributor to radio and television. He was a Man Booker judge in 2003, is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum and an advisor on many committees. He is the author of Descartes: The Life and Times of a Genius.

Alan Jenkins's poetry collections are In The Hot-House; Greenheart; Harm, winner of the Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year); The Drift, a Poetry Book Society Choice, shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize; The Little Black Book; A Short History of Snakes: New and Selected Poems; A Shorter Life (Poetry Book Society Recommendation); and Drunken Boats. He received an Eric Gregory Award in 1981 and a Cholmondeley Award in 2006, and was shortlisted for the 2005 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) with A Shorter Life. He is Deputy Editor of the TLS and has taught creative writing in London, Paris and the USA.