Carol Ann Duffy lives in Manchester, where she is Professor and Creative Director of the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her poetry has received numerous awards, including the Signal Prize for Children's Verse, the Whitbread, Forward, T. S. Eliot, and E. M. Forster Prizes. She was the UK Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2019. Her many collections include Mean Time, Love Poems, and The Bees, which won the Costa Poetry Award.

Her writing for children includes Queen Munch and Queen Nibble, The Skipping-Rope Snake, and The Tear Thief. She was made a DBE in the 2015 New Year Honours list. In 2021, Carol Ann was awarded the international lifetime achievement award the Golden Wreath for her achievements in poetry. Margaux Carpentier is an image maker and storyteller. She creates pictures using a symbolic language, so each piece can be read by all, in many different ways. Her work is inspired by the infinite combinations of colours offered by the world; her images transcribe the choreography of living things. She works on varied projects, from large murals, installations and paintings to detailed book illustrations, and even toys. Margaux is based in London, England.