FARHANA SHAIKHFarhana Shaikh is a writer and publisher born in Leicester. She established Dahlia Books, a small press from the corner of her kitchen. Farhana won the Penguin/Travelex Next Great Travel Writer prize. She was longlisted for the Spread the Word Life Writing Prize for her memoir about growing up in 1980s Leicester. Her short play Risk was produced as part of Kali Theatre's discovery programme and staged atCurve Leicester. Her first novel, No Place for a Young Woman was longlisted in the Women's Prize/CBC Creative #Discoveries2023. Farhana teaches marketing at De Montfort University and runs the Middle Way Mentoring project. GAVIN MARSHALLFor the last 35 years Gavin Marshall has been involved in telling stories as a trapeze artist, actor and director. His work has included shows for the Royal Shakespeare Company, circus spectacles in Macau, India and the UAE, roles in the West End and Bollywood epics, as well as motion capture for Andy Serkis and Spielberg movies. Having loved every minute of telling other people's stories, he is finally telling his own.ANGELA JAMESONAngela Jameson showed a passion for stories and language at a young age, and after graduating from UCL in Dutch and History of Art, her career took her into translation and non-fiction writing in London and Amsterdam and then Cambridge. In 2017, Angela completed an MA in Creative Writing at ARU. Her debut novel, Against The Tide, is inspired by the true accounts of women on the north-east coast of England, who supported their communities' independent lifeboats prior to the arrival of the RNLI. DAPHNE MAYS (CATHERINE OLIVER)Catherine Oliver, 30 years old, also known by her pseudonym Daphne Mays, lives in Switzerland with her partner. She is a full-time night shift nurse in a care home and has been a nurse for over ten years. Daphne has always wanted to write a book about her experiences as a caregiver.JACQUELINE SMITHJacqueline Smith studied Marine Biology at university and has been forever fascinated by the ocean. After conservation work abroad, she returned to the UK and trained to become a teacher, educating in schools and other settings including the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens. She is drawn to writing that engages with nature and the environment and Unholy Sea, her first novel, was partly inspired by true events.LINDA KAY STEVENSLinda Kay Stevens was born in Utah and raised in a loving family who were perpetually on the move. Her diverse experiences span from the wilds of the Rocky Mountains to the shores of the Ionian Sea. She gathers and layers her writing with a quest to understand her six-plus decades of movement through prose and poetry.Linda Kay divides her time between living in a meditation community in Suffolk, England and a secluded Greek forest on Corfu island, with her life partner.They share the bounty with a dozen chickens, a couple of friendly feral cats, and two rescue hounds who love to accompany her on the trails. TALISHA MCKNIGHT (TATIANA HANDFIELD) Tatiana Handfield (writing as Talisha McKnight) is a trained Secondary School teacher of English Language and Literature. She enjoys writing short stories, poems, plays and children's books which display and celebrate the vibrantly unique culture of her home country the Turks and Caicos Islands. Tatiana is the founder and creative director of Cyril & Dorsie Publishing, which focuses on publishing literature centred on the history, culture and heritage of the Turks & Caicos. EMMA ROGERSEmma Rogers lives on the (mostly) sunny south coast of England near Hastings, where she works in Adult Social Care. She writes: "Following a health scare three years ago, I know what it feels like to be given a "wake up call", and how it can lead to a reassessment of what's important in life.NORA KEREZOVIC The love of storytelling and writing led Nora Kerezovic to study journalism in Dublin. Having worked as a reporter for newspapers in Ireland, she moved to London to work for ten years at BBC Worldwide as an Editor. When she and her husband started a family, Nora decided to freelance. She worked on educational material, prompting her to become an adult tutor. With that came a desire to work in social care. Since then, she has designed and delivered tailor-made engaging and empowering workshops on creative writing and wellbeing to vulnerable adults, people with learning disabilities, mental health needs, and survivors of human trafficking. GEORGE WALLACE George Wallace has been writing for two years. He is a chartered engineer and has been employed in aircraft design, air traffic control design, and the maritime industry. A keen race walker, he recently came first in Walk the Walk, covering 15.2 miles in 3.5 hours.
