Bio: Kerry was born in Kingston, Jamaica and came to England in 1965 at the age of ten. Her heritage is mixed, Chinese on her father’s side and Chinese and African on her mother’s side. Her father was a small-time racketeer in Kingston and it is this experience that provides the background for the script. Kerry completed an MA in creative writing at Nottingham Trent University and has had a literary consultancy read. Pao is the first of a trilogy.

Bio: Sailesh Ramakrishnan is currently Consultant Editor of Eastern Eye, the best-selling and most prominent (South) Asian newspaper in the UK. His first novel, Asian Triangle, was a commissioned work, published by Mantra. He has begun a new work called The Crazed Dance of the Demented Firecracker. Set in London in 2052, it is an improbable, tragi-comedy love story between a delusional nightclub owner and ex-journalist, and a diva married to one of the most powerful (and evil) media barons on earth.

Bio: With a working career spent in sales and marketing and more recently running a dog grooming business, she now concentrates on full-time writing. Passionate about environmental issues and nature, Elaine is a keen member of several animal welfare and conservation charities. Interests include classical music, ballet, travel, history, Renaissance art and fine literature. Her first novel, Getting a Life, is about the adventures of three middle-aged women who escape England for Fuerteventura. Other titles in progress include Ring A Ring Of Ravens.

Bio: Sarah has had one contemporary novel, Game, Set, Love-Match, published by a small American publisher Siren Publishing. She is in her final year of a PhD in Creative Writing at Lancaster University, having graduated with a distinction on the MA programme in 2006 and a First in English Literature before that. She has had a radio drama broadcast by the BBC and various other short stories and e-books, published both nationally and internationally. Sarah recently spoke at the inaugural Echoes of the Past Conference at Newcastle University on contemporary film and is now working on a novel called Tracing Paper. Finally, she teaches Creative Writing and English at The Open University, Lancaster and Manchester University.

Bio: Patrick Wilmot was born in Jamaica in 1942. A graduate of Yale and Vanderbilt, Dr Wilmot taught Sociology at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria for eighteen years. In 1988 he was abducted by Nigerian security police and forcibly 'retired' to London. He has published various academic textbooks and articles, short stories and poetry. His first novel was Seeing Double (see image).