Liz Hyder has been making up stories ever since she can remember. She writes for both grown-ups and young adults and is the award-winning author of three novels including two acclaimed historical fiction books both set in Victorian England. Her latest, The Illusions, is set in Bristol in 1896 and explores the overlap between a golden age of magic and the early days of moving images.

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Louisa Treger is the critically acclaimed author of four novels, The Lodger (2014), The Dragon Lady (2019), Madwoman (2022), which was a historical fiction Book of the Year in The Times and The Sunday Times, and a Book of the Month in the Independent, and The Paris Muse (July, 2024). She has written for The Times, The Telegraph, Tatler, BBC History Magazine and English Heritage. Radio appearances include BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking Programme, and BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. Treger has a First Class degree and a PhD in English Literature from UCL, and currently lives in London.

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In a former life, Nikki Marmery worked as a financial journalist. She now writes fiction from a small village near Amersham, where she lives with her husband and three children. Her first novel, On Wilder Seas, was shortlisted for the Historical Novel Society’s New Novel Award and selected for the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation’s #AdventureSociety book club.

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Essie Fox was born and raised in Herefordshire. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked in publishing - before becoming self-employed in commercial art  design. Always an avid reader, she is now writing historical novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4's TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Her latest novel The Fascination, a Sunday Times Bestseller, features Victorian rural fairgrounds, the glamour of the London theatres, and an Oxford Street museum of morbid curiosities. Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian. She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London.