Lauren Beukes is a best-selling novelist who also writes comics, screenplays, TV shows and occasionally journalism. She hails from South Africa. Her most recent novels include Broken Monsters and The Shining Girls. Her awards include the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Strand Critics Choice Award.

Brian Chikwava was the first Zimbabwean writer to win the Caine Prize for African Writing. His first novel, Harare North, was published in 2009. The title of the novel is an allusion to London. Due to the large number of former Harare residents in London, including Chikwava, many Zimbabweans refer to London as Harare North.

Paulo Coelho is a renowned Brazilian novelist and is the recipient of numerous international awards. The Alchemist, his most famous novel, has been translated into 80 languages. Paulo has sold over 200 million copies worldwide and is the all-time bestselling Portuguese language author.

Cory Doctorow is a Canadian-British author of science fiction. Doctorow is a co-editor of the award-winning blog Boing Boing. He is the former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. He is currently a special advisor to the EFF.

Aminatta Forna was born in Scotland, raised in Sierra Leone and Britain and spent periods of her childhood in Iran, Thailand and Zambia. She has won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book, been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and nominated for the European Prize for Fiction.

Stanley Gazemba describes himself as a writer, journalist and gardener. In 2010 NPR wrote a story about how, despite having won one of Kenya’s most prestigous literary prizes, Stanley was still working as a gardener to support himself. He has since been able to embrace writing full time.

Seth Godin is the best-selling author of 18 books, including: Purple Cow, Tribes and We Are All Weird. His books have been translated into more than 35 languages. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything.

Tad Hills is an American children’s book author and illustrator. His first picture book, Duck & Goose, is a New York Times bestseller and ALA Notable Book for Children. Tad studied painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, creative writing and poetry at Skidmore College, but he credits parenthood as his greatest source for his inspiration.

Stan Lee is an American comic book writer known to millions as the man whose Super Heroes propelled Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry, Stan’s co-creations include Spider-Man™, The Incredible Hulk™, X-Men™, The Fantastic Four™, Iron Man,™ as well as hundreds of others.

Sarah Ladipo Manyika was raised in Nigeria and has lived in Kenya, France, and England. She teaches literature at San Francisco State University and is a book juror for the Etisalat Prize for Literature and for the California Book Awards. She sits on the boards of Hedgebrook and The Museum of the African Diaspora.

Chuma Nwokolo is a Nigerian fiction author, poet and advocate. He is also the publisher of African Writing, which publishes some of the finest contemporary African writers. His books include The Final Testament of a Minor God, How to Spell Naija, Diary of a Dead African and The Ghost of Sani Abacha.

Nnedi Okorafor is a novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism for children and adults. Okorafor was born in the U.S. to two Igbo parents. A professor at the University of Buffalo, her awards include the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.

Mary Pope Osborne is an American author best known for the Magic Tree House series which has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. The Magic Tree House series has received honors from such organizations as the National Council of Teachers of English and the American Booksellers Association.

Hans Wilhelm, with over 42 million books in print, is one of America’s most read illustrators of children’s books. Many of his 200 books have been translated into thirty languages and have become successful animated television series that are enjoyed by children all over the world.