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Hugo Wilcken is in his thirties and British-Australian. He lives in Paris, where he has worked as a writer since 1990.

Chris Welch, former ‘Melody Maker’ critic and ex-editor of ‘Metal Hammer’ and ‘Rock World’, has written books on Jimi Hendrix, Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Peter Gabriel and David Bowie. He contributes to ‘Mojo’, ‘Record Collector, ‘Rhythm’ and the ‘Independent’ and plays drums in his spare time.

<p>Samantha Weinberg, 31, is a writer and journalist who was born and brought up in London, educated at Cambridge – but of South African extraction. She has written for most daily broadsheets and magazines. She was until recently features editor of Harpers and Queen. She is author of Last of The Pirates (Cape 1994).</p>

Lucy Wood is the critically acclaimed author of Diving Belles, a collection of short stories based on Cornish folklore, and Weathering, a debut novel about mothers, daughters and ghosts. She has been longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize, shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize, and was runner-up in the BBC National Short Story Award. She has also received a Betty Trask Award, a Somerset Maugham Award and the Holyer an Gof Award. She lives in Cornwall.

ALEC WILKINSON began writing for The New Yorker in 1980. Before that, he was a policeman in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and before that he was a rock-and-roll musician. He has published nine books, including The Happiest Man in the World and The Protest Singer. His honours include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lyndhurst Prize and a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.

Greg Williams writes for ‘Arena’, the ‘Face’ and ‘Arena Homme Plus’. He lives in north London with his wife and daughter.

Bee Wilson is a home cook, journalist and writer, mostly about food. Yotam Ottolenghi has called her ‘the ultimate food scholar’. She writes for a wide range of publications including the Guardian, The London Review of Books and The Wall Street Journal. She is the author of eight books on food-related subjects and she is the co-founder of the food education charity TastEd. She lives in Cambridge and has three children.

Colson Whitehead was born in New York City in 1969 and graduated from Harvard College in 1991. He has written four novels, including the Pulitzer-Prize-nominated ‘John Henry Days.’ He has written for, amongst others, The New York Times, Salon and The Village Voice.

Geoffrey Wansell is a freelance writer and former journalist on ‘The Times’ and the ‘Observer’. He is the author of four previous biographies: ‘Cary Grant: Haunted Idol’ (Collins), ‘Tycoon: The Life of James Goldsmith’(Grafton), ‘Terence Rattigan’ (Fourth Estate: shortlisted for the ‘Yorkshire Post’ best biography of the year) and ‘Fred West’ (Hodder Headline).

Francis Wheen is an author and journalist. He is a regular contributor to Private Eye and is the author of several books, including a highly acclaimed biography of Karl Marx which has been translated into twenty languages and the bestselling How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World. He recently wrote the screenplay for The Lavender List, a biopic of Harold Wilson’s last days in government.