CHARLES DICKENS (1812 - 1870) Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812. He was the second of eight children. Although his father was hard-working, he was unable to support his family, so Charles knew well what it meant to be poor in his days. His first job, at the age of twelve, was labelling bottles. When his father came out of prison, where he had been sent for failling to pay his debts, Charles returned to school where he did well.

Niccolò Ammaniti (born 25 September 1966 in Rome) is an Italian writer. As a young Italian novelist, Ammaniti was part of the cannibalistic group, from the anthology Gioventù Cannibale by Daniele Brolli (1996), for which he wrote a short novel together with Luisa Brancaccio. He became noted in 2001 with the publication of Io non ho paura, a novel which was later made into a movie directed by Gabriele Salvatores. In 2006, he published Come Dio comanda, a novel where nothing should be taken at face value. A crime novel, which is also a weariless dialogue between man and God.

LOIS DUNCAN (1934 - ) grew up in Sarasota, Florida. Ever since she was a young girl, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and she sold her first story to a magazine when she was thirteen. In 1962 she moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she taught at the Journalism Department at the University of New Mexico while she continued to write for magazines. Lois Duncan has written over 50 bestselling books for young people and adults, many of which have won awards.

Emil Erich Kästner (23 February 1899 - 29 July 1974) was a German author, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poetry and for children's books including Emil and the Detectives. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1960 for his autobiography Als ich ein kleiner Junge war.

Thomas Brussig (born 1964) is a German writer best known for his satirical novels that deal with the German Democratic Republic. Brussig was born in Berlin. After attending the "Heinrich-Hertz" School, he went on to train as a builder. In 1984 he finished school and training, and served in the East German National People's Army (German: Nationale Volksarmee or NVA). Brussig found it difficult to wield a weapon and had a hard time. He worked as a museum guard, cleaner and hotel porter among a variety of other odd jobs until the early 90s.