David Hare is one of the UK's most internationally performed playwrights, screenwriters and political commentators. His first play, Slag, was originally produced in London in 1970 at the Hampstead Theatre. His plays include Plenty, a portrait of disillusionment in post-war Britain; the trilogy Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges and The Absence of War, about three British institutions: the Anglican church, the legal system and the Labour Party; and Stuff Happens, about the invasion of Iraq. His latest play, The Power of Yes, took on the financial crisis to much critical acclaim. Hare's screenplay adaptations include Damage, The Reader and The Hours. He is also author of Obedience, Struggle & Revolt, a collection of lectures about politics and art, and Via Dolorosa, a rumination on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The French government made him an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 1997, and in 1998 the British government knighted him. He lives in London with his wife, Nicole Farhi.

Janine di Giovanni is an award-winning author and journalist. She has been covering global conflict since the 1980s, and is considered one of Europe's most respected journalists. She is the author of The Place at the End of the World: Essays from the Edge, and Madness Visible: A Memoir of War, both of which have been critically acclaimed for dealing so movingly with the human cost of war. Janine writes regularly for The Times and Vanity Fair, and is a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, The Spectator, National Geographic, Granta and many others. She is the recipient of four major awards, including the National Magazine Award for her work in Kosovo, two Amnesty International Awards for her coverage of Sierra Leone and Bosnia, and Britain's Granada Television's Foreign Correspondent of the Year for her reporting on Chechnya. Janine's next book, Ghosts by Daylight, is a memoir of war and motherhood set in Paris and is due out in 2011. Janine will act as president of the jury for this year's Prix Bayeux Correspondents des Guerres in October. She lives in Paris with her son. www.janinedigiovanni.com