Melvyn Bragg (Author) Melvyn Bragg is a writer and broadcaster whose first novel, For Want of a Nail , was published in 1965. His novels since include The Maid of Buttermere, The Soldier's Return , Credo and Now is the Time , which won the Parliamentary Book Award for fiction in 2016. His books have also been awarded the Time/Life Silver Pen Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the WHSmith Literary Award, and have been longlisted three times for the Booker Prize (including the Lost Man Booker Prize). He has also written several works of non-fiction, including The Adventure of English and The Book of Books about the King James Bible. He lives in London and Cumbria. Simon Callow (Author) Simon Callow is an actor, director and writer. He was born in London and made his London debut in 'The Plumber's Progress' in 1975. He has performed in numerous theatres, taking the lead roles at the RSC and the National Theatre, and his film appearances include 'Amadeus', 'A Room with a View', and 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'.

He made his directorial debut with the film of Carson McCuller's 'Ballad of the Sad Cafe', and has directed several new plays in fringe theatres, and two operas. He has published two autobiographical books: 'Being an Actor', and 'Shooting the Actor'. Tracey Emin (Author) Tracey Emin was born in 1963 to an English mother and Turkish father, and grew up in Margate. She left school at 15, but later studied Fine Art at Maidstone and went on to the Royal College of Art. She is now an internationally renowned artist whose work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world. Although known as a visual artist, Tracey Emin's confessional writings have always formed the backbone to her work and in 2005 she published her memoir, Strangeland , drawing together new and revised work from the previous 25 years. In 2007, she was elected as a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts, where she is now a Professor of Drawing and in 2013 she was appointed CBE. Pete Townshend (Author) Pete Townshend is the lead guitarist and principal songwriter of The Who - one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, selling over 100 million records worldwide - and the composer of the rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia.

Philip Ardagh (Author) Philip Ardagh is the Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winning author of over 100 children's titles. Mary Beard (Author) Mary Beard is a professor of classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, and the classics editor of the TLS . Her books include the bestselling, Wolfson Prize-winning Pompeii , The Parthenon , Confronting the Classics.