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Aoife Mannix is an Irish poet and writer who was born in Sweden. She grew up in Dublin, Ottawa and New York before moving to the UK. Her poetry collections include The Elephant in the Corner (2005), Growing Up An Alien (2007), Turn the Clocks Upside Down (2008), and Cocktails from the Ceiling (2013). She is also the author of a novel Heritage of Secrets (reissued 2023) and several libretti. Her pamphlet Alice under the Knife won the James Tate Poetry Prize 2021. She has a PhD in creative writing from Goldsmiths, University of London.

Katherine Mansfield (1888 – 1923) was a prominent writer of short fiction born and brought up in New Zealand, who also wrote poetry. She moved to Great Britain in 1908, where she became close friends with a circle of writers which included D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, and published several collections of short stories as well as some poems. After contracting tuberculosis, she died aged 34 years.

Arjunan Manuellpillai is a poet and creative facilitator based in London. His debut pamphlet Mutton Rolls was published by Out-Spoken Press in 2020 and a full collection Improvised Explosive Device is due in October 2002. He has worked extensively with community arts projects both in the UK and abroad.

Walter de la Mare (1873 – 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, novelist and critic, who first worked as an office clerk, becoming a full-time writer in 1908. He is best remembered for his works for children, including his classic collection of children’s poetry, Peacock Pie.

Lorraine Mariner lives in London and works at the National Poetry Library, Southbank Centre. She has published two collections with Picador, Furniture (2009) and There Will Be No More Nonsense (2014) and has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize twice, for Best Single Poem and Best First Collection, and for the Seamus Heaney Centre Poetry Prize. Her most recent publication is the poetry chapbook, Anchorage with Grey Suit Editions (2020).

Jehane Markham is a musician, lyricist and poet. She has published several collections including Thirty poems (Rough Winds, 2004). The Jehane Markham Trio has also recorded CDs such as Vladivostok to Moscow inspired by a seven-day journey on the Trans Siberian railway which draws on contemporary gypsy jazz, Russian folk and classical music.