After studying history at Glasgow University, Louise Welsh established a second-hand bookshop, where she worked for many years. Her first novel, The Cutting Room, won several awards, including the 2002 Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger, and was jointly awarded the 2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award. Louise was granted a Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award in 2003, a Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award in 2004, and a Hawthornden Fellowship in 2005. She is a regular radio broadcaster, has published many short stories, and has contributed articles and reviews to most of the British broadsheets. She has also written for the stage. The Guardian chose her as a 'woman to watch' in 2003. Her second book, Tamburlaine Must Die, a novelette written around the final three days of the poet Christopher Marlowe's life, was published in 2004. Her third novel, The Bullet Trick (2006), is a present-day murder mystery set in Berlin. The Cutting Room 2002 Tamburlaine Must Die 2004 The Bullet Trick 2006 Naming The Bones 2010 Prizes and awards 2002 Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger The Cutting Room 2002 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award (joint winner) The Cutting Room 2003 BBC Underground Award (writer category) The Cutting Room 2003 Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award 2004 Corine Internationaler Buchpreis: Rolf Heyne Debutpreis (Germany) The Cutting Room 2004 Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award 2004 Stonewall Book Award (US) (honor in literature)

Peter Mackay (Pàdraig MacAoidh) (b. 1979) is a Scottish poet writing in Gaelic and English. He has an MLitt from the University of Glasgow and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin. He is a Senior Lecturer in Literature at the School of English at the University of St. Andrews. His poetry pamphlets and collections are From Another Island (Clutag, 2010), Gu Leòr (Acair, 2015) and Nàdar De = Some Kind of (Acair, 2021). He is also co-editor of the poetry anthologies An Leabhar Liath (Luath, 2016), 100 Dàn as Fheàrr Leinn (Luasth, 2020) and The Golden Treasury of Scottish Verse (Canongate, 2021).

Zoë Strachan was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in 1975. She is the author of three novels: Ever Fallen in Love, Spin Cycle and Negative Space. Ever Fallen in Love was shortlisted for the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards and the Green Carnation Prize and nominated for the London Book Awards. Negative Space won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book of the Year Award. In 2003 The Independent on Sunday listed her in their top twenty novelists under 30, and the Scottish Review of Books selected her as one of their new generation of five young Scottish authors in 2011. Her short stories and essays have been included in numerous journals and anthologies, she contributes journalism to various newspapers and magazines and her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 3. She has been UNESCO City of Literature writer-in-residence at the National Museum of Scotland, a Hermann Kesten Stipendiaten, a Hawthornden Fellow, a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellow and in 2011 she undertook a British Council visiting fellowship at the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa. Recent works for theatre are Panic Patterns (with Louise Welsh, Citizen's Theatre and BBC Radio Scotland) and Old Girls (which opened the 2009/10 season of A Play, a Pie and a Pint at Oran Mor in Glasgow). Her short opera Sublimation (with composer Nick Fells) toured Scotland in May 2010 with Scottish Opera before going to Cape Town, South Africa in November 2010. The Lady from the Sea, a full-length opera composed by Craig Armstrong and based on the play by Ibsen, premieres at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2012.

AKA Jack Harvey. Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982 and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987; the Rebus books are now translated into 22 languages and are bestsellers on several continents. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow. He is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, and he received two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh. A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts, on Channel 4 in 2002. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, and opted to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons. http://us.macmillan.com/author/ianrankin

Matt Wesolowski is an author from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He is an English tutor for young people in care. 'Six Stories' was published by Orenda Books in the spring of 2016 with follow-up ‘Hydra’ published in the winter of 2017, 'Changeling' in 2018, 'Beast' in 2019 and 'Deity in 2020 ‘Six Stories’ has been optioned by a major Hollywood studio; ‘Changeling’ was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, 2019 Amazon Publishing Readers’ Award for Best Thriller and Best Independent Voice. 'Beast' won the Amazon Publishing Readers' Award for Best Independent Voice in 2020 Matt is represented by Sandra Sawicka at Marjacq Film/TV Rights - Luke Speed at Curtis Brown

Antti Tuomainen (b. 1971) is one of Finland’s most acclaimed and award-winning crime fiction writers. To date, Tuomainen’s works have been translated into more than 25 languages. Crowned “The King of Helsinki Noir,” Tuomainen’s piercing and evocative style has never stopped evolving. In The Man Who Died, Tuomainen displays a new side of his authorship and unveils his multifaceted ability in full. The novel, which combines Tuomainen’s trademark suspense with a darkly tinged humor, has won the hearts of readers and critics alike, and secured him the new title of King of Noir Comedy. The Man Who Died also became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen 'the funniest writer in Europe'. His latest thriller, Little Siberia, was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing/Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

Alan Spence (born 1947) is a Scottish writer and is Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Aberdeen, where he is also artistic director of the annual WORD Festival. He was born in Glasgow, and much of his work is set in the city. Spence is an award-winning poet and playwright, novelist and short-story writer. His first work was the collection of short stories Its Colours They are Fine, first published in 1977. This was followed by two plays, Sailmaker in 1982 and Space Invaders in 1983. The novel The Magic Flute appeared in 1990 along with his first book of poetry, Glasgow Zen. In 1991, another of his plays, Changed Days, was published before a brief hiatus. He returned in 1996 with Stone Garden, another collection of short stories. In 2006, The Pure Land, a historical novel set in Japan, was published by Canongate Books, and is based on the life of Thomas Blake Glover who is immortalised in the story of Madame Butterfly.

Nick Barley is director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival (2009- ) and has worked as a publisher and editor in the arts field, including design journal Blueprint and Scottish cultural magazine The List. He was a judge for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2012 and will be chairing the judges of the Man Booker International Prize 2017. Adapted from: http://www.speakers4schools.org/speak...

Denise Mina was born in Glasgow in 1966. Because of her father's job as an Engineer, the family followed the north sea oil boom of the seventies around Europe She left school at sixteen and did a number of poorly paid jobs, including working in a meat factory, as a bar maid, kitchen porter and cook. Eventually she settled in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients. At twenty one she passed exams, got into study Law at Glasgow University and went on to research a PhD thesis at Strathclyde University on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, teaching criminology and criminal law in the mean time. Misusing her grant she stayed at home and wrote a novel, 'Garnethill' when she was supposed to be studying instead.

Luca Veste is a writer of Italian and Liverpudlian heritage, married with two young daughters, and one of nine children. He studied psychology and criminology at university in Liverpool. He is the author of the Murphy and Rossi series, which includes DEAD GONE, THE DYING PLACE, BLOODSTREAM, and THEN SHE WAS GONE. Part psychological thriller, part police procedural, his books follow the detective pairing of DI David Murphy and DS Laura Rossi. The novels are set in Liverpool, bringing the city to life in a dark and terrifying manner...with just a splash of Scouse humour. "Astringent and artfully constructed." The Financial Times "A darkly impressive novel... disturbing and intelligent." The Times "A chilling début from a writer to watch..." Mark Billingham "Gripping, unpredictable, genuinely shocking and impossible to put down, Dead Gone is a remarkable début." Steve Mosby "A twisty, psychological crime debut in a gritty setting: a new favourite for police procedural lovers" Clare Mackintosh "Tense and darkly playful." Chris Ewan "A major new talent on the crime scene." Eva Dolan "Fresh...original." Mel Sherratt "Original and terrifying." Stav Sherez He is also the editor of the Spinetingler Award nominated charity anthology 'Off The Record', and co-editor of 'True Brit Grit', also an anthology of short stories for charity. He is a former civil servant, actor, singer and guitarist (although he still picks it up now and again), and now a full-time writer. He can be found at www.lucaveste.com and on twitter @LucaVeste