Courttia Newland is the author of seven books including his much lauded debut, The Scholar. His latest novel, A River Called Time, was published in 2021 andCosmogramma, a story collection, will be published later in the year. He was shortlisted for the 2007 CWA Dagger in the Library Award and the 2010 Alfred Fagon Award. As a screenwriter, he has written episodes of Steve McQueen's 2020 series Small Axe.
Kadija Sesay is a literary activist of Sierra Leonean descent. She is the founder of the magazine SABLE LitMag and creator ofAfriPoeTree, a selective interactive video. She is the Publications Manager for Inscribe/Peepal Tree and editor of several anthologies including Six Plays by Black and Asian Women Writers and Write Black, Write British: From Postcolonial to Black British Literature. She co-edited Dreams, Miracles and Jazz: New Adventures in African Fiction with Helon Habila and Dance the Guns to Silence: 100 Poems for Ken Saro-Wiwawith Nii Parkes. She has published a poetry collection, Irki. She has received awards and fellowships for her work in the creative arts and her research, including an AHRC doctoral scholarship to research Black British publishers and Pan-Africanism.