5x15 - January 2021
Douglas Stuart was born and raised in Glasgow. After graduating from the Royal College of Art, he moved to New York, where he began a career in design. Shuggie Bain is his debut novel. It is shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the National Book Award for Fiction, the Kirkus Prize and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. His short stories have appeared in the New Yorker and his essay on ‘Gender, Anxiety and Class’ was published by Lit Hub. Shuggie Bain is to be published in over 25 territories (so far) and tv adaptation rights have been acquired by A24 and Scott Rudin Productions.
Kate Mosse is an international bestselling novelist, playwright and nonfiction author with sales of more than eight million copies in 38 languages. Renowned for bringing unheard and under-heard histories to life, she is a champion of women's creativity. Kate is the Founder Director of the Women's Prize for Fiction, sits on the Executive Committee of Women of the World and is a Visiting Professor of Contemporary Fiction and Creative Writing at the University of Chichester. Kate lives in West Sussex with her husband and mother-in-law.
Max Porter is the author of Lanny, longlisted for the Booker Prize, and Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, winner of the International Dylan Thomas Prize and shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. He is the recipient of the Sunday Times / Peter Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year award.
Stephen Daldry is an award-winning Theatre, Film and Television Director & Producer. He has directed many theatre productions, with sold out runs in London's West End & New York's Broadway, winning multiple Olivier & Tony awards. Most recently The Inheritance. His production of Billy Elliot the Musical has had several tours worldwide. Stephen's 1992 version of An Inspector Calls is the longest running production in the National Theatre’s history. His next play, The Jungle, will open at St Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn in 2021, following a successful run in London’s West End, before it embarks on a US tour.
Stephen has directed 5 major feature films which have all been nominated for major film awards. NETFLIX's The Crown, which he serves as Executive Producer, has just premiered season 4. Stephen is also the Chairman of the refugee charity Good Chance.
Amir Nizar Zuabi is an award-winning theatre writer and director. He was an associate director of the Young Vic, a member of the United Theaters Europe for artistic achievement, and an alumni of The Sundance Institute Theatre Program. Alongside The Walk he is the Artistic Director of ShiberHur Theater Company, is creating a show for Riksteatern Theater in Stockholm, and is writing a new play for the National Theatre in London.
His writing and directing credits include I am Yusuf and This is my Brother, In the Penal Colony, Oh My Sweet Land The Beloved (ShiberHur/Young Vic); Three Days of Grief, West of Us The Sea, Mid Spring Musical, Dry Mud, Against A Hard Surface (ShiberHur); Last Ward, Who Killed You Asmahan, The Huta and Grey Rock (La Mama NYC).
Directing credits include: Samson and Delilah (Flanders Opera, Antwerp); Jidarriya by Mahmoud Darwish (Edinburgh International Festival, Bouffes du Nord and world tour); Forget Herostratus, Le Mallade Imaginer, War or More, Sneeze, Deep Sorrow, Fall Tale, When The World Was Green, Lanterns Of The King Of Galilee, Taha and The Comedy of Errors (Royal Shakespeare Company).